Danganronpa: Laughable Rejects
by Prince PokePersona
Summary: Come one, come all! Are you an Ultimate? Tired of success being handed to you? Feeling singled out and excluded by the normies? Do you want to run away from it all? Have no fear a miracle is here, called the Reverse Revival Project! Do you crave a normal life that badly? That's what two twins aim to find out...What's the harm in a little fun...and screaming. (SYOC CLOSED)
1. Welcome Rejects!

**_Desire for Normalcy: Prologue_**

 **Editor: Swordsman975**

* * *

You…yes you! Are you an Ultimate? Are you considered 'gifted' by society? Are you tired of being called one? Do you want to be a normal, regular person again?

Well come one, come all! Step right up! Don't be shy! Witness a miracle like you've never seen before!

 **Welcome to the Reverse Revival Project!**

An internationally government funded project that aims to help Ultimates, like you, quell that issue in no time at all. Do you want to expunge your talent for good? Sick of being considered exceptional by the rest of the world? What are your reasons for making this permanent decision? Which of these fits the ticket for you as an Ultimate:

1) Are you tired of the constant success and riches? Do you feel as if you're bored with the achievements you have made in your precocious youth? Are you too exhausted from hogging the spotlight and garnering everyone's favor? Tired of the obsequious remarks people utter like clockwork to you daily? Do you dread everyone's high expectations for you as an Ultimate? Want to try your luck at being like the rest of society? We can help with that.

Or…

2) Do you feel underappreciated and unnoticed even though you are considered the best of the best according to society? Do people not acknowledge you for having a talent at all? Is your talent considered unimpressive or not worthwhile enough for others to broaden their social circles to you? Do you feel almost ignored because of your talent? That's another issue we aim to solve.

Or...

3) Is your talent considered taboo or criminal in nature? Is it something that most people would frown upon or dismiss as illogical, confusing or weird? Do you feel like a second-rate/low class citizen with your talent? Are you trying to hide your talent? Don't worry, this project is anonymous guaranteed for the participants, so no need for parental or guardian approval, you only need to be an Ultimate and be over the age of 14 to join this program.

Or….

4) Does your talent carry some sort of emotional baggage or mental weight on your shoulders? Does it remind you of a time when you were in a bad spot or a loved one passed away or left you because of it? Does your talent end up making the situation worse than it already is? Are you tired of losing friends and family over what you are? We can't bring them back, but we aspire to get you back on your feet and this will be the first step to achieve that goal.

Or…

5) Are you trying to escape from something or someone in particular? Is it overbearing parents? Fake friends who love you for your talent and not you? Enemies jealous of your accomplishments who try to take you down with them? Rivals who constantly try to one up you but end up coming in second place? An oppressive government that aims to exploit you and your talent? Or is it something deeper and more personal to you as a person? No matter the danger, we will safeguard you from any threat brought our way.

Trust in us. We can help alleviate those fears and qualms in about 6 months or less, and if not, you'll be reimbursed handsomely with all expenses, fees and trips back home paid for in full by our organization, guaranteed!

When joining the Reverse Revival Project, there are a few things you must have in order to enter this program:

 **1** ) Your RRP form with all your information filled out such as name, age, gender, weight, height, birthday etcetera and of course your Ultimate Talent.

 **2** ) A paragraph explaining your reason(s) for wanting to get rid of your talent and joining the program in the first place.

 **3** ) A fee of five dollars (or however much that is in your nation's currency) and the rest of your necessities will be paid for by the administrators and hosts of each individual program.

 **4** ) If you're an immigrant wanting to join the program, then you will need your passport from your own home country. Foreigners will be given an optional luxury package, if they so choose, since being in a new country can be intimidating at first and you wouldn't want to make a bad first impression.

 **5** ) Since this is an international program, you will need a basic understanding of the English language at the very least, this makes it easier for some people and prevents any vitriolic discourse between participants. We also provide free English lessons with your package, so you can kill two birds with one stone!

 **6** ) If you have a disability or illness, we will help fund for special lessons to cater to you, the program is equipped to better you as people and to make you feel comfortable in your new environment. If that is the case, please let us know ASAP.

With all those requirements filled out, you will mail it to us at this location: ****  
And wait about one week to see if you are applicable for the program. If you receive a paper back with a red X, it means you either missed the criteria necessary to join or you weren't fortunate enough and someone else took your spot.

However, if you receive a green check mark, then congratulations! You have been chosen and selected to become apart of the program and will receive a special package with information regarding the program in the mail as well. So if you have any last-minute thoughts, we understand your decision to revoke entry into the project, at the last second, and will give it to the next applicant in line.

In a week's time, a limousine will pick you up at your residence and will take you to the location where the program will be held, where you will meet others like you, who want to ditch their talents as much as you do, meet the staff that is going to be assisting you on your journey and maybe meet the Head of the program halfway through the course's duration, only time will tell.

Other than that, we look forward to working with you, soon to be former Ultimate…..

 **There's no time like the present, call 1-800-***-******

Enjoy your stay…..it might be your last.

Signed by the RRP Head Administrator,

 **Kiichigo Yanagi**

* * *

Meanwhile…

In a house located somewhere in one of Japan's major cities, it cuts to a teenager's bedroom….

A young boy and girl were discussing their futures pertaining to the RR Program, as the boy held a piece of paper that had a green check mark on the bottom, along with another copy like it with a similar check mark, but with another person's name and personal information.

"This is it sis," exclaimed the boy, "Our one-way ticket to a normal life, no more worrying, no more stress...It's time for a fresh new start!"

"Are you sure about this, brother?" the girl pondered pensively, "I mean, what will mom and dad think about us running away like this?"

"I say screw what they think!" he remarked, trying to be as quiet as he can since they were supposed to be asleep, "They've made your life miserably unbearable and my life a living nightmare, we need to do this!"

"Okay…." She mumbled, a little taken aback by her brother's rash decision, the night before the limousine is about to pick the two of them up.

"I just hope you're right about this program," she remarked pessimistically, "I have a bad feeling about this, there are so many things that could wrong."

"Oh, don't be such a negative Nancy, sis" he commented confidently, with a dumb smile plastered on his face, "I'll protect you while we're there, so you can count on your big brother to help make the initiation process smooth sailing!"

"You're only older by a few minutes," she chuckled, turning her back to him, "But thanks, Ekichirou."

"No problem, Cherika," he said, taking off the lamp light in their bedroom, smiling determined and falling asleep, "Nothing will go wrong and nobody will mess with you, as long as I'm around!"

"I really…hope you're right about this," she sighed, falling fast asleep in her warm bed.

As the two siblings drifted off into dreamland, the papers on their desk also came with an acceptance letter on the side, which read:

 _"Welcome Ekichirou and Cherika Yoshirenku, to the Reverse Revival Project…..  
_ _"As the Ultimate Lucky Student and Ultimate Unlucky Student...  
_ _"We are happy that you came to the decision to join our program…  
_ _"We hope you enjoy your stay….  
_ _"Trust in us…..  
_ _"The system never fails…..  
"_ _It always works...  
_ _"Always…"_

-Signed, Kiichigo Yanagi

* * *

 **Hello Hello Hello, my fellow Danganronpa readers and authors alike, welcome to Laughable Rejects, my third official story out of how many stories I plan to do in the future and my next upcoming SYOC!**

 **Another SYOC, it seems this year is full of them, lol, someone get the SYOC spray lol.**

 **Before you say it, yes, I'm currently working on two other stories that aren't even finished and I have a semi decent reason for that.**

 **I just wanted to get this out there and I feel like I will be doing myself a disservice if I work on all three stories at once. With this one, I will only be accepting submissions right now and further chapters will be added when I get the other two stories off the ground and somewhere close to completion.**

 **I know that sounds like a plateful, but I want to push myself to do better and to accomplish more, even with a busy schedule that's about to hit my doorstep. What can I say, I like to aspire, when it comes to something that I'm passionate about.**

 **For my Hope's Lie readers and Salty Wave readers, I will be focusing on those stories primarily, and when I get close to finishing either one of them, probably Hope's Lie, I will focus on making Laughable Rejects and the other one. This seems easier for me to do and that way I can advance both stories and this one will be on the backburner until then.**

 **Anyway, I've rambled too much, here are the requirements and the form for character submissions:**

I WILL BE ACCEPTING 20 OC's as per usual with my stories and will need 9 Boys and 9 Girls.

* * *

 **RULES/Submission Form for OC'S For LAUGHABLE REJECTS! (THIS IS ALSO ON MY PROFILE SO YOU CAN COPY AND PASTE IT)**

 **1)** No Mary Sues or Gary Stu's, nobody is flawless and having perfect characters really doesn't resonate well with people, I'm looking at you Sonia and Chiaki, even though I like both of them and Chiaki is best girl.

 **2)** * No canon talents and be original with them, and yes V3 talents don't count either something fresh would be more welcome. (Plus, Talents from Hope's Lie & Salty Waves and Bloody Coral, will not be accepted either).  
I want to test you guys to see if your minds are as creative as I think they are.

*(Also you are allowed to have variations of a previous Ultimate Talent, like Detective you can Private Investigator or Police Officer, and if you want to have a canon talent, make sure that you give the character a different personality, appearance and backstory that makes them stand out from their predecessors).

 **3)** This story's theme is my own original take called Freedom Vs. Captivity. (Not sure how it'll work bear with me guys, who knows).

 **4)** Anything in parenthesis you can delete to make the submission form easier to understand and for me to read **.**

 **5)** You can send in a max of three characters, anymore would be too much and frustrating to keep track of.

 **6)** I go to college and have tons of homework, so at worst these chapters will be sporadic, so don't expect a new chapter every minute or so. I prioritize quality rather than quantity, I hope you understand.

 **7)** On occasion, I might ask you guys about some questions I have with your characters and if you want them to have a particular encounter with the MC or something along those lines, so yeah..

 **8)** PM's only, review OC's would be rejected as everyone can see them and it ruins the fun for everyone involved.

 **9)** Please Title the Form: Laughable Rejects SYOC - "Insert Character Name"

* * *

 **Finally, these are the standards for character submissions:**

 **Name (First name then last name):**

 **Nickname (optional):**

 **Age:**

 **Birthday:**

 **Height:**

 **Weight:**

 **Gender (the farthest I will go is non-binary, but that's it):**

 **Sexuality (I'm open to LGBTQ characters so go wild):**

 **Nationality:**

 **Race:**

 **Ultimate Talent:**

 **Why they want to get rid of their talent:**

 **Personality (be detailed, I love paragraphs):**

 **Appearance (make them detailed but not like five paragraphs, general physical traits like hair, skin, build etc.):**

 **Special Features:**

 **Mannerisms/Quirks:**

 **Strengths (Both Mental and Physical):**

 **Weaknesses (Same with Strengths):**

 **Mental Health Issues (optional):**

 **Clothing (you can have them be shirtless but not fully nude):**

 **Swimwear:**

 **Sleepwear:**

 **Formal attire:**

 **Accessories:**

 **Backstory(Not everyone is going to have a happy childhood, but don't go overboard with something dark okay, and make it long I love paragraphs):**

 **Romance, if at all? (I love romance but will try my best if I get good matches):**

 **Likes (five please):**

 **Dislikes (same as likes):**

 **Hobbies:**

 **Free Time Event Ideas:**

 **Victim/Killer/Survivor (no guarantees, this is just so you can convince me to kill them or keep them ticking and alive):**

 **Justification for each one:**

 **Mastermind (do you want them to be a mastermind?):**

 **Motive/s for murder:**

 **Execution style (give me what Monokuma would do for their execution, bonus points if it relates to their talent):**

 **Reaction to a body (innocent):**

 **Reaction to a body (guilty):**

 **Investigation role (I don't want twenty kyoko's or chiaki's, diversify who does what)**

 **Innocent:**

 **Guilty:**

 **Trial Roles (are they talkative, quiet, commentators, jokers, aggressors or sheep)**

 **Innocent:**

 **Guilty:**

 **Reaction to classmate executed:**

 **Reaction to being accused (Innocent):**

 **Reaction to being accused (Guilty) :**

 **Reaction to being caught:**

 **How would they lie (are they good at it, quiver and break down or don't care of they deceived someone):**

 **How would they express the truth:**

 **Darkest Fear:**

 **Darkest Secret:**

 **People they'd befriend:**

 **People they'd despise:**

 **People they'd crush on:**

 **Important people in their life:**

 **How would they react to the Killing Game:**

 **How would they react to the Reverse Revival Project:**

 **Dialogue (to help me understand your character better):**

 **Japanese Voice Actor (optional):**

 **English Voice Actor (optional):**

 **Other (basically anything else you'd want me to add):**

 **On that note, I wish you all a good day or night and happy reading!**

* * *

 **DEADLINE TO SUBMIT: Mid July or Early August (I know it's a very long time from now, but I have a plan and I think by that point I will be close to finishing one of my two others stories).**

BTW: If anyone is curious, as to why there are submissions here, my friends have sent me their characters early, but this will NOT be first come, first serve, unless your character fits the story I have planned, I will judge them like everyone else.

X 32 MALES

X 22 FEMALES

 **SUBMISSIONS-**

X1 Garbologist

X1 Tragic Knight

X1 Web Developer

X1 Soothsayer

X1 ?

X1 Ripperologist

x1 Beta Tester

x1 Flautist

x1 Alchemist

X1 Florist

x1 Memory

x1 Survivalist

x1 Occultist

x1 Debater

x1 TV Personality

x1 Guesser

x1 Charmer

x1 Runner

x1 Prostitute

x1 Digital Artist

x1 Songwriter

x1 Matador

x1 Arsonist

x1 Paranormal Investigator

x1 Game Warden

x1 Coroner

x1 Research Scientist

x1 Tea Brewer

x1 E-Sports Pro

x1 Clown

x1 Mountain Climber

x1 Grandmaster

x1 Berserker

x1 Virologist

x1 Radio Operator

x1 Prosecutor

x1 EMT

x1 Thief

x1 Fireman

x1 Animal Trainer

x1 K-Pop Sensation

x1 Bounty Hunter

x1 Guitarist

x1 Interrogator

x1 Broadway Singer

x2 Defense Attorney

X1 Jpop Idol

x1 Stripper

x1 Partisan

x1 Astrophysicist

x1 Actor

x1 Vigilante

x1 Pop Funk Singer


	2. LR: A Miserable Beginning & Accepted OC

**Editor: RioA**

 **Art: ShyJoker**

* * *

It was a bright and sunny day as I awoke from my slumber. I groggily yawned, wiping my eyes and stretching. I felt like my limbs were going to be torn off from the amount of popping noises that came out. I didn't want to leave the comfort of my bed, but my body told me to get up or else it was going to shut down on me and never work again.

Usually I would enjoy sleeping in on a day like this, but today was a very special day indeed. It wasn't any other ordinary weekend, no...it was much more than that.

I sat up in my bed, blinking a few times until I got a good look of our room. To be honest, it wasn't anything special- it felt like every other teenager's room you might have seen before.

The ceiling was an off shade color of grey that made the room look more dull than it already was, my wallside of the room was a dark blue and my sister's side a dark red color, the floor was an ugly dark brown carpet, we both had our own bathroom to ourselves and shared it like twins would do, except we would take turns since we weren't identical twins of the same gender.

My side of the room was something every teenage boy would have- a TV with a DVD player was in the center of the room on top of a wooden drawer filled with our clothes. There was also a shelf filled with comic books, manga, and DVDs. I had a few posters on the wall of my favorite rock bands from Tomorrow's Sorrow to Crashing Phoenix, then one from my favorite TV show called '10 Reasons To Live A Lie', and one for a video game series I really, really loved called 'Fandanranpo'.

I shared a closet with my sister, which I didn't mind, but the clutter and stacks of clothing was a nightmare to sort out and fold. My side was filled with t shirts, pants, socks, sneakers, and other essentials all neatly cleaned and pressed. Meanwhile, my sister's side was slightly messy- some color clothing were mismatched, some shirts were crinkled, and it seemed one of her shoes was missing, probably at school or something.

Compared to my more nerdy and geeky side of the room, my sister had more of a creative taste in terms of decor. It was more expressive and had that artistic flair to it.

Her shelves had art books, paints, brushes, colored pencils, sketch books, and an endless amount of art supplies I can't remember off of the top of my head. She also had her fair share of posters on the wall of her favorite anime 'Kissed The Wrong Boy' and some video games from 'Mash Gandicate' to 'Aria Festival 10'. My sister preferred more sparkly and romantic types of stories compared to my more mellow and I guess cool preference, if you can call it that.

However, the one thing the two of us can say with full confidence, is that we have a common interest in the same thing. Which was mysteries- specifically murder mysteries to be precise. Well, I'm getting off topic right now- me and my silly rambling.

My name is Ekichirou Yoshirenku, but please call me Kichi all my friends do. I'm 16 years old going on 17 this year and I'm considered the Ultimate Lucky Student according to everyone else.

 **EKICHIROU YOSHIRENKU - ULTIMATE LUCKY STUDENT**

It's a very silly title in my opinion. My talent is that I'm luckier than the average student, fortune is always in my favor and everything seems to go my way no matter what the circumstance. I like to call it both a curse and a blessing at the same time. I don't mind having it since it's saved me a couple of times in the past, but sometimes I feel like other people don't actually like me as a person per se. It's not that I have any bad qualities or anything, not that I'm aware of, but more so people want to be around me, only for my good luck alone and not because of my personality or efforts. Nope, they're just looking for a way to make their miserable lives better by being around me, thinking that if they spend time with me more often, then my luck will rub off on them.

Which is one of the reasons why I dislike my talent so much, I don't feel like a human in my own skin. I feel like...I was a mistake.

I'd like to believe I was cursed to have nothing but good things happen to me - like an evil spirit had put an enchantment on me while I was a baby, making it so that nothing could go wrong no matter how hard I tried. I gave up on that myth a long time ago, it seems the luck is going to haunt me like a shadow at night for as long as live.

I wanted to get out of bed, but the warmth coming from my poofy blanket beckoned me to stay a bit longer. It was tempting to sleep in, but not right now.

"I can't sleep like this," I thought in my head, "Today's the day…"

I glanced over to the nightstand in between our beds and looked at the acceptance letters that were resting there. The two pieces of paper both had all our Reverse Revival Project information, all filled out with a green check mark on each one to confirm we both got accepted at the same time.

I grabbed both papers and perused their contents fully. Mine had my picture near the top left, attached by a staple. Looking back on it now, it may not be the best ever.

My golden blond hair was styled in a way where it looked spiky but had a windblown look to it as if I had just come out of a car wash blow drying system, my skin was white but had the impression of a light tan as if I had been to the beach recently, I looked tall in the picture but maybe being around average height was normal for a guy like me.

But the one thing that made the picture more unique was my red eyes, which upon first glance might make me look demonic, but it might be true, could be the devil's luck who knows.

My sister's own was slightly crinkled but had her information on it as well. I looked at her messy portrait, as it seemed she couldn't make out a smile in the picture.

Her messy dark brown hair reached her shoulders and had a few strands sticking out from the side and one on the top of her head. Her fair white skin and slightly rosy cheeks made her look cuter than she likes to think she is. She always had this disconcerted frown on her face but it was shaped in a way where she looked like she was trying to smile.

But the most notable thing about her, just like me, were her eyes- they were a sad light blue color. I like to think they compliment my red eyes since the two of us are siblings. Red and blue tend to go well with each other.

I still can't believe we both got accepted into this program. I was literally in awe as soon as we got the mail yesterday morning. Out of thousands of applicants, the two of us managed to get in which was a feat in of its own. I kind of expected myself to get in almost immediately, but my sister as well considering her talent? That was the surprising factor.

I put the papers down on the nightstand, sleepily looked at the bright morning light that was pouring out from our window, and yawned louder than before. The birds chirped merrily, cars passed by in a hurry- it was relatively quiet for a morning like this. It was almost as if this was a sign from God himself.

I turned to my left and stared at my sister, snuggled up inside her blanket, resting in her bed as she lay quietly like a lamb sleeping in a grass field. Her messy hair rested on her poofy purple pillow, her hair strewn across the ends. She tried her best to avoid the morning sunlight from entering her eyes and waking her up.

"Good morning sis," I chuckled, pulling the blankets off of her body, "Time to get up!"

"Ugh…" she moaned, turning her body away from the light, "Five more minutes…."

I laughed as I tossed her blanket to the side of her bed, watching her wriggle around for a bit.

"Cherry, it's time to get up," I told her sternly, "Today is the day!"

"Huh….already…" she sleepily yawned, turning over to face me, still laying on the bed.

"Yes, now get dressed. The limo is going to pick us up in an hour or two," I told her.

"Ok…" she meekly said, sitting up. Her eyes were still closed shut as she tried her best to get out of bed, "Please don't go too far...I don't want to fall again in the shower."

I nodded as she yawned some more, almost choking on some of her messy hair strands, as she began coughing out hair. She headed inside the bathroom to freshen up, after feeling the walls to see if she could reach the door with her eyes closed.

That's my little, twin sister, Cherika Yoshirenku. She was the same age as me, but I was born only a few minutes ahead of her, so technically, I was the eldest.

And she had a talent, much like me, but hers was…..something unpleasant to say the least.

She was deemed as the Ultimate Unlucky Student.

 **CHERIKA YOSHIRENKU - ULTIMATE UNLUCKY STUDENT**

Now you might be wondering- what the hell, unlucky student? How is being unlucky considered a talent? And who in their right mind would give her such a demeaning title?

Well, to put it simply, unlike my situation, her talent was purely a curse in every sense of the word. Nothing ever goes her way. She always got into sticky situations because of her extremely bad luck. It seems like the world itself is almost out to get her.

It's as if some evil puppet master tied invisible strings to her body as a baby, controlling her every movement since she was able to walk. I didn't know if she was born with it- like I am with my luck- but I do know that she doesn't deserve this kind of treatment.

Whereas people want to be around me because of my good luck, my sister is the antithesis. Everyone practically shuns her to the point where they don't even acknowledge her existence. Sometimes when people did talk to her, it was only because they either knew I was her brother and used her to get to me, or they pitied her only to avoid her like the rest already do.

I always like to think that in order for my good luck to exist, she needed to have bad luck in order to counteract me or something. If that was the case, then it's the cruelest joke ever conceived, like an evil trickster had stolen all her lucky traits away from her in the middle of the night as she slept.

I started tidying our room whilst she was in the shower- getting ready, folding the clothes, tucking in the corners of our bed covers, dusting the shelves, laying out our clothes, and even letting some air into the room by opening up the window.

"Ow!" yelped a scream coming from the bathroom, "Not again.."

I rushed over to the bathroom door and knocked on it.

"Cherry are you alright!?" I worriedly panicked, "Did you slip again?"

"No Kichi….the water valve switched to hot again," she whimpered, "I got scalded is all...nothing new."

I sighed with relief. Good thing the water wasn't too hot. Even taking a simple shower is a chore for her, which is the sad thing about her situation- simple tasks are hard to do, so I end up having to take care of her all the time. Well, not that I mind.

As the running water in the bathroom stopped, Cherika came out into the bedroom. A dark red towel was wrapped around her skinny body from her chest downwards as she wiped her eyes from the water that blasted directly into her face.

"Your turn, Kichi.." she mumbled as she headed over to her bed to get ready.

"Thanks sis," I smiled, grabbing my clothes, heading inside the bathroom and closing the door behind me.

The bathroom wasn't as outstanding like our bedroom. The floor had white tiles with black lines over the pattern. The walls were a cemented grey color, and it was slightly cramped with how narrow it was. There was one toilet, the shower was very tiny, and the showerhead had thin holes in it caked with white soap suds. There was one big bathroom sink with a cupboard underneath that my sister and I shared.

I turned on the dim light, rested my clothes near the sink, took off my pajamas, and headed inside the shower, adjusting the valve so that it stays on the warmest setting.

"Aw man, another hole..." Cherika moaned from in the bedroom, "I really liked that top too…"

I brushed my hair back with warm water as I took off the shower. I grabbed my dark blue towel resting near the shower on a metal hanger, then taking a quick look at myself in the mirror. I was noticing small bags underneath, making my red eyes look even more sinister than they were before. My hair was pushed back as I began wiping it with my towel, eventually going back to its windswept look from before.

I sighed even more, not bothering to style it, dried off the rest of my body, and began putting on my clothes. My outfit was something I really liked, it was a look that I feel suited me.

It consisted of a green shirt with the kanji for 'lucky' written in gold lettering and a gold four leaf clover near the neckline. My jacket comprised of a sleeveless jean part that was on my torso with long grey sleeves. My jeans were a light green color that was originally dark blue, but somehow the colors got mixed up in the washing machine. My dark green converse sneakers with black lacing were tied into a perfect bow, and, to complete the look, I wore my signature dark blue newspaper boy hat.

This way, my hair didn't make me stand out and I could feel more comfortable walking in public without people staring to see if there was a chicken on my head or something.

From my overall look, you might think I was some skater boy wannabe or something- I wouldn't blame you.

"Ok, all set," I remarked, looking at myself in the mirror one last time, "You can do this Ekichirou...just smile and act like it's another regular day."

I exited the shower room and saw my sister struggling to put her outfit on. Her head was having a hard time getting through the hole in the top and her sleeves were put into the wrong armholes.

"Oh, Cherry," I shook my head, stifling some laughter, "Let me help you."

"T-Thanks.." she said, trying her best to wriggle out of her predicament.

I held the shirt in place as her head popped out from the top- like something from one of those whack a mole games- as her arms slipped into the sleeves with ease.

"Is that better?" I asked, ruffling her hair.

"Yep..thanks Kichi," she smiled nervously, her messy hair still slightly unkempt as usual.

As I stood back I took a good look at her outfit. It consisted of a bright red top with black butterflies near the lower part near her waist, dark blue jeans, dark red strap shoes with black straps connecting to the middle top part of her foot with red gems in the middle of each, a dark grey sweater jacket wrapped around her body like a blanket as the sleeves reached to her hands, a gold necklace with a heart shaped pendant hanging from it and to finish her look off, she had a red and black butterfly hair pin on the front of her bangs near her forehead to prevent hair from going into her face.

"Looks good, Cherry," I gave her a thumbs up and smiled, "Although you might want to get rid of the bedhead."

"Oh shush Kichi…" she rolled her eyes, "Can you brush it for me please?"

"Of course," I smiled, grabbing a red hairbrush from the dresser, "Let's hope you don't have any knots or loose ends like last time."

She sat on her bed as I began combing it down and styling it so that her hair didn't look thin or stringy. I managed to get it to look slightly neater, but some strands still stood up on the top of her head and a few on the sides. Oh well.

"Welp that's the best I can do," I sighed, taking the hairbrush and setting it inside a dark grey duffle bag, "How does it look?"

She stared into the window by her bed, getting a little glimpse of her outfit and face.

"It's good...thank you, Kichi," she blushed and looked down at her feet, "Are you...sure about this?"

I looked at her with concern as she uttered similar words like the ones from last night. I understood how she could get cold feet….but this program….this is our chance. Our chance to escape from everything...a chance to restart our lives….and to start anew.

"Cherry," I stood on one knee looking at her, "I know you're scared, but look at it this way- once we finish this program, you won't have to worry about being called an Ultimate Unlucky student anymore."

She sighed deeply, closing her eyes and shaking her head, still not feeling sure about all of this.

"Ok...I..t-trust you," she looked me in the eye, almost wanting to cry.

"Don't worry, nothing bad is going to happen," I hugged her to reassure her, "I promise."

Those words were like a pen of fate- they wrote a future that was unforetold. Uncertainty was a risk that everyone was willing to take if it meant getting what they wanted in the end. My sister and I...we knew of the risks that it would take to join this program, but we ultimately knew it was our only salvation from escaping our caged lives.

"Beep beep!" a horn from outside sounded. I looked out the window to see that our limo was here and right on time too.

"It's time…" I said to Cherika, "Do you have everything you need?"

"Yes...my art supplies, my video games, my Ipod, my clothes, and other essentials," she nodded, showing me a black backpack and a dark red handbag filled with all the stuff she could carry on her person.

"Ok good," I pumped myself up, "Let's head down!"

I opened the door, letting Cherika head out first. I didn't hesitate, not taking a look back at our shared room and headed down the stairs with a stride in my step.

I noticed mom and dad's cars were missing which meant they were at work or some party or something. I noticed the dining table in the kitchen which had only three chairs available and a plate of breakfast resting on a dull brown placemat.

I scoffed at it as the two of us headed outside, waiting to greet the bright future ahead of us. The day that we've both been waiting for is coming true. Today we both embark on a journey to expunge our talents for good.

A black limo awaited the two of us. It's sleek shine almost blinded us as a middle aged man with dark black hair and silver eyes, also wearing a chauffeur's uniform, came out and greeted the both of us with a bow.

"Good morning, Ultimates," he politely said, "Thank you for choosing the Reverse Revival program. Please, allow me."

He opened the door for us, smiled a pearly white smile as Cherika entered first, with me following close behind. The driver closed the door as the two of us got comfortable inside, admiring what was inside.

The interior of the limo was something I thought I would never see in my entire life. The seats were made of a red velvet leather cushioning, the floor was a fuzzy black carpet, it was wide in length, it had a mini fridge with drinks and snacks at our convenience, a small LED TV hanging from the wall of the car, and a video game console resting on a built in shelf with two wireless gaming controllers at our disposal.

"Oh sweet, this looks so cool!" I gazed at the amenities in front of us, "This must have cost a lot."

"I suppose so…" Cherika sighed, resting her head on the leather seats and taking out a small pillow from her bag.

"Excuse me sir," I asked the driver, "How long will this drive take?"

The driver rolled down his tinted window, stopped the car and looked back at the both of us through the mirror.

"I would say maybe about 7 or 8 hours,give or take one due to traffic, so settle in," he tipped his hat as he rolled the window back up.

"Oh thank goodness…" Cherika yawned, resting her head and closing her eyes to sleep.

I didn't pay it much mind as he started the car and it began to move. Hopefully he doesn't drive too fast- Cherika gets motion sickness easily. I sat down resting my head on the seat as I turned on the TV, watching the news play as Cherika snored quietly, wanting to get a few more minutes of shut eye.

"And now in other news," said a news announcer that appeared on the screen, "It has been said that Kiichigo Yanagi, the founder of the Reverse Revival Project, will be attending his next talent removal session this week, as another new group of Ultimates plan to go through with this project."

I kept watching the TV, a bit intrigued with the broadcast. So it seemed the man himself was coming to greet us in person- that must mean this part of the project must be a special occasion for him or something.

I didn't do much research on Mr. Yanagi or his past work, but from what I've heard, his success rates with removing Ultimate talents is almost in the 90 percentile margin. I do sometimes wonder why he decided to start this program, but I shouldn't complain if it yields beneficial results.

"However, critics are still unsure of this project," she continued her spiel, "Saying, 'This project will only deter talent and produce nothing but more slackers', as one prolific critic put it. Most notably from Hope's Peak Academy, a prestigious school dedicated to fostering these so called Ultimate Talents, has spoken out against this project as well, claiming it to be one big scam."

I snorted at the claim. Of course the school would speak ill of this program. They only care about their money, not the actual students themselves. This project is basically their kryptonite, the more Ultimates that willingly choose to remove their talents, the more money and fame the school will seek to lose in the process.

I turned off the TV, not wanting to hear anymore of that slander. I grabbed a drink from the mini fridge, opened the top, and sipped it.

"Grape soda, my favorite," I smiled, sipping some more of the refreshing beverage, "This is good stuff, not like the cheap soda from the convenience stores."

As I sat in the car, waiting for something to happen, I started to feel slightly drowsy, noticing the limo was spinning around and that Cherika didn't make a single peep.

"I guess I'm more tired than I thought…" I sleepily yawned, my eyes too heavy to stay open as I felt a it tipsy.

I didn't know what came over my body in that instant, but I could tell something felt weird. Call it a pure gut instinct, but I had a feeling that something was going to happen to the two of us. For better or for worse, I knew that we had to stick with it, even if it meant we would forfeit our previous lives for new ones.

As the limo drove to who knows where, I felt my body getting weaker and weaker as I couldn't move a muscle no matter how hard I tried. I eventually gave into the overwhelming drowsiness and fell asleep.

Like they always say..tempting fate is one of the the worst things you could ever do in life.

* * *

 **The Reverse Revival Project thanks you for joining us…..**

* * *

 **A/N** : Hello hello hello, it's so nice to see you all again after so long of not updating for a bit.

 **Today is my birthday!** Yep, I grow one year older on this day and await the sweet release of death with each breath I take, JK. I decided why not post this chapter to thank you guys for sticking by my stories and giving me so much love and encouragement. I love you all so much, thank you for reading my stories and not cringing all the way! :3

First of all I just wanted to say thank you all so much for submitting some wonderful OC to my little passion project. I really appreciate it and it warms my heart to know you all actually like my writing as cringy as it is XD. Maybe it's the unique theme of the story, but who knows ;3

Secondly, over 50 OC...just wow. It wasn't easy choosing ones from the long list, but somehow I did it. I'm sorry to the creators whose OC didn't make it into the cast, I loved all the submissions, but I had to choose 22, they were so good I had to end up making two more spots and there was no way I'm making it 24 X3.

Thirdly, to the creators whose OC made it onto the list, congratulations! YAY!  
I hope I do your characters justice, you sure gave me a lot of detail to each one and it's going to be a bit hard having to kill one of them off in the first chapter, :3….send help...JK.

Fourthly, thank you all so much again for bearing with me on this long three month submissions process. I know it was time consuming and arduous and I had a lot of time to mull it over, but hopefully this roster of OC looks good to you all. I had fun reading the forms and seeing how your OC wanted to get rid of their talents.

Lastly, sorry for the infrequent uploads and jumping to the top of FF so much, a guy's got to do what a guy's got to do XD. Also I've been pretty busy with other stuff as well IRL, driving, learning my bearings and other personal stuff. My mental health has been slightly all over the place, but I'm feeling much better now and I can't wait to get this project off the ground.

As of right now, I'm not sure how to manage three stories all at once, but I do know that I will try to make a chapter for at least one of each story, if I can, so that each one can get close to finishing faster, and I can get a head start on working on my other stories X3. Oh, my silly overactive imagination.

But enough of me rambling, here's the official Laughable Rejects Cast and I will see you guys in the future, whenever I decide to upload next, they might be sporadic at worst, but just remember I prefer quality over quantity, so I hope that's ok.

Meet the cast of LR and it's time to venture on their journey into the Reverse Revival Project. We hope you enjoy your stay Ultimates….it might be your last.

* * *

 **ACCEPTED STUDENTS FOR LAUGHABLE REJECTS :**

 **MALES:**

Ekichirou Yoshirenku – Ultimate Lucky Student (Me!)

Christopher O'Donnell - Ultimate Tragic Knight (Swordsman795)

Nashi Akira - Ultimate Soothsayer (R3dLuv3Singin)

Banri Gingka – Ultimate ? (ShyJoker)

Gabriel Mudd – Ultimate Garbologist (PainX65)

Asahi Fujioka - Ultimate Tea Brewer (RioA)

Itsuki Ogasawara - Ultimate EMT (SanityRequiem)

Daiko Hakazi - Ultimate Defense Attorney (Ziggymia123)

Norio Kuromiya - Ultimate Vigilante (Autis2418)

Genki Ohno - Ultimate Risk Analyst (Crimson Spider Lily)

Hibiki Miyamoto - Ultimate J-Pop Idol (AnonChan1)

 **FEMALES:**

Cherika Yoshirenku – Ultimate Unlucky Student (Me also)

Tsukae Shinzou - Ultimate Charmer (mayurie)

Shiho Mukai – Ultimate Survivalist (DancingCactuar)

Shion Ninomiya – Ultimate Songwriter (Lupus Overkill)

Hotaru Ikeru - Ultimate Arsonist (zephryr)

Ayano Akatsuka - Ultimate E-Sports Pro (Sparkquill)

Chihaya Sato - Ultimate Clown (PoisonBanana)

Aki Sasaki - Ultimate Research Scientist (Abitat Eco)

Galiana Al Earnestine - Ultimate Prosecutor (Wolffang1795)

Jun Nousagi - Ultimate Digital Artist (irwegwert)

Shannon Akahoshi - Ultimate Runner (TheRoseShadow21)

* * *

Happy reading my fellow readers, authors, otaku and all of the above alike, I hope you all have a wonderful day, night or whatever holiday you might be celebrating at this moment. Bye bye!


	3. LR: Character Intros Part 1

**Editors: RioA & Crimson Spider Lily**

* * *

"Hey Kichi!" said a voice coming from somewhere, "Are you free this weekend?"

I opened my eyes, raising my head up to see that I awoke in some kind of classroom setting. It was your standard typical classroom with about four rows of five desks. The entrance to the room was a sliding door, the floor was a light brown wooden color, and the ceiling was a boring shade of white. I was seated near the window like some anime main character in a slice of life show.

I seemed to have been sleeping for a while now, my arms covering my head while I rested on top of my desk. I rubbed my eyes with the sleeve from my school uniform, which was a plain white short sleeved dress shirt, a black tie, grey pants, and white school slippers.

I looked up to see who was calling out to me and saw it was a girl. She seemed to know me since she called me by my nickname, which is rare. Most people tend to refer to me by first name only.

She stood in front of my desk, her body leaning forward so her face was closer to mine. Her back was facing the other desk behind her.

"Hey sleepyhead," she asked, tilting her head and staring at me longingly, "Did you hear what I said at all?"

"Huh…oh uh" I mumbled nervously, stretching out my arms from the nap, "What time is it...and where am I for that matter?"

"You're so silly, Kichi!" she playfully giggled, "Why are you so absent-minded? You're in our classroom and it's after school time!"

The girl seemed to be frustrated with my indifference, acting as if she and I were friends or something. She brushed the light brown hair out from her face to her left side, her brownish green eyes sparkling in the afternoon light and her natural makeup only highlighting her pretty face. Her school uniform consisted of a blue vest, a white short sleeved shirt, a blue diamond pattern skirt that reached her thighs, and her white school slippers, which meant she went to this school as well.

"Like I was saying," she regained her composure, "Do you want to….um...go to the movies with me this Saturday!?"

She put her hands together and looked like she was about to cry, asking me for a response. I didn't know how to reply to her sudden request. This girl, who I'm pretty sure I've never seen before, is asking me out to the movies. And why so suddenly?

"Umm...I'm sorry," I looked at her, rubbing the back of my head, "I have to go with my parents and sister on that day. We're going on a family outing."

The girl seemed a bit upset by my answer as she looked even more flustered, blushing awkwardly and fluttering her eyelashes innocently.

"O-Oh...s-sorry..I d-didn't know" she scratched her cheek nervously, "I understand….Maybe next time?"

"I'll think about that, thanks. Sorry about that, uh…" I paused, waiting for her to introduce herself as I didn't want to be rude and call her 'that girl' anymore.

"Oh sorry, we've sat next to each other for over a month since the new year started, and I didn't introduce myself," she shook her head and smiled, "My name is Risa Tamaoki."

"Ok, well, it's nice to meet you Risa, sorry about that." I said to her, rubbing the back of my head "I really have to go now, see you tomorrow."

"Kay kay, sure thing," she smiled, pulling out her cellphone and texting her friends I suppose.

As I exited the classroom, I noticed that some students stayed back, presumably for after school club practice or something. I didn't have the time to worry about that though. I needed to see if Cherika was ready to go home. She usually liked to head to the bathroom before leaving school, so I decided to check the restrooms right away.

I approached the closest one to our classroom and waited for her to come outside, leaning against a wall and pulling out a comic book called 'Rat Boy' that I've been binge reading since yesterday. I read the book for what seemed like mere minutes, not sure if Cherika was done and kept on waiting. She normally takes a bit to use the bathroom so I didn't mind waiting long for her.

After about an hour or so, I got a bit worried. Despite her luck, she wouldn't take this long to use the bathroom even if she fell in or wet her clothes by accident. Something must be up. In a state of mild panic, I took a quick peek inside of the girl's bathroom and saw no one inside. It seemed no one saw me look in either. Thank my lucky stars I didn't get labelled a pervert.

"Where is she?" I wondered, heading back to our classroom to see if she was there, "She probably forgot her notebook or something."

I rushed back to the classroom, hearing voices coming from inside. I slid the door just a bit to catch a glimpse of what was going on inside. I noticed about three girls, two with dark brown hair, but one wore it short, and the other had hers in a ponytail. The one in the middle had light brown long hair that reached her back. It seemed the girls were huddled up in the corner of the room, talking to each other or discussing girl stuff, I wasn't sure.

"Is that Risa? She's still here," I thought to myself, getting a better look at what was going on, "I wonder why?"

I leaned in a bit closer to hear what they were saying, making sure that I didn't alarm them or let them know someone else was around. This time I heard the conversation much better as I was able to make out their voices.

"Come on Cherry," said the short haired girl, "Tell us your secrets, you know you want to."

"W-What..secrets?" said a meek voice, "I d-don't know what y-you're talking about."

"Is that Cherry!?" I started to get a bit anxious, "What is she doing with them? Did they call her up here to meet or something?"

Knowing that Cherika was there, I started to get even more worried. She's not the type to start a conversation, let alone ask people to meet up with her. This is rather strange indeed, but I noticed she was in the middle of the group of girls, almost as if she was being ganged up on, like hungry cats to a cornered mouse.

"Don't lie to us," said the ponytail girl, "Tell us what your brother likes and dislikes in girls. He must have a type he's interested in, or at the least have a crush on someone."

"U-um…I'm not sure..." Cherika stuttered, leaning against the closed window near her desk, "He likes...video g-games..like me."

"Huh...that's so typical for a boy," said the light brown haired girl, whose voice belonged to Risa, "What else does he like?"

"W-We...both like...anime," she mumbled, backing away slowly, "So I guess we like..g-geeky things."

"Anime…" Risa snorted, "What a total loser, a hot guy like him likes anime!? Don't lie to me Cherry!" she put her hand to the wall forcefully, making a loud thud noise.

"B-But it's true.." Cherika whimpered, "We both also love mysterie-"

"SHUT UP!" Risa screamed at her, "There's no way a clumsy nerd like you has such a drop dead gorgeous brother who likes anime, something only losers like you love, you're such a liar!"

My body trembled as I saw the three girls inching closer to her with every step they took. Their mouths spouted verbal insults very openly and brazenly. Their faces contorted into mischievous smiles, their eyes shrunk to pupil points, and the laughter coming from the two girls next to Risa were grating to hear- like nails on a chalkboard.

"I should have never asked you for advice, Cherry," Risa frowned at her with contempt, "You're so useless."

"I also heard she eats her lunches alone in the bathroom stall," snickered the short haired girl, "How pathetic is that."

"I heard she likes talking to herself when she's outside in the garden," sneered the ponytail haired girl, "What a weirdo."

Cherika seemed to be on the verge of tears as the three girls severely ridiculed her one after the other, almost like clockwork. They all called her names and started bullying her, all over me for whatever reason.

"Now, be a good little girl," Risa smiled evilly, "And tell me what I need to do to get your brother to go out with me!"

Risa extended her hand out to slap Cherika. My adrenaline kicked in as I rushed in to save her. I intervened and took the slap when I reached them, the three girls stunned by my sudden arrival.

"K-Kichi…" Cherika opened her eyes, looking at Risa's horrified expression and my face bearing a red hand mark from the slap.

"That's enough!" I looked at the three girls, my red eyes glaring at them angrily, "Don't you ever intimidate my sister or lay a finger on her again!"

"O-Oh...Kichi...what are you d-doing here?" Risa trembled, "I was just….asking your sister if she w-would like to j-join us for k-karaoke."

I glared at them more, their faces distraught and scared as I scowled at them. She could tell some obvious lies, and the look on her face said it all- she was full of shit.

"I would never want my sister in the company of you and your repulsive group of friends," I said, grabbing Cherika's bag and carrying her out the classroom.

"B-But wait!" Risa sputtered. She tried grabbing my sleeves but ended up slipping on air as her two friends helped her up, "I-I love y-you…"

I looked back at Risa, her eyes wet with tears as she sobbed, begging for my forgiveness like a thief who was caught stealing from a fruit stand.

"Never in a million years would I want to date someone as fake and petty as you," I sneered at her, "Get a life and learn some manners."

As my sister and I left the classroom, Risa started crying loudly and whining like a toddler who didn't get their juice box. It seemed she was in denial that I rejected her as her friends tried calming her down, but to no avail.

"Are you alright, sis?" I asked her, rubbing her shoulder, "I'm sorry you had to deal with lowlifes like them."

"Kichi…." Cherika sniffled, looking up at me, "Thank you…."

I ruffled her hair as the two of us exited the school building. We changed out of our school slippers and headed home. The streets filled with sakura blossom petals as the bright light shone in our faces.

* * *

"Wake up Kichi…" said a female voice, "Get up!"

"Huh!?" I opened my eyes, awoken by a person's voice as I saw that I was still inside of the limousine, "Oh crap….I overslept didn't I?"

I yawned loudly, stretching out my arms. I noticed that Cherika was wide awake, her hair as messy as ever and her face looking concerned and worried as usual. She must have woken up before me since I could make out some bags under her eyes.

"Yes, y-you did," she sighed deeply, "The driver said we're a-almost to the facility, so we should get our stuff in order…."

Huh, I didn't know I slept for that long. I guess I was more exhausted than I thought I was. Maybe the idea of getting rid of our talents through the program excited me a bit too much that I tired myself out. I grabbed my duffle bag, making sure I had all my things in order- from clothes, bathroom supplies, books, gaming consoles, and most importantly, extra underwear.

"Looks like I'm all set," I gave a thumbs up, "What about you, Cherry?"

"Mhm…" she nodded her head, "I don't have much to bring, so I think I'm g-good to go."

She checked her bag again, as she fumbled around, possibly looking for something inside of the huge bag.

"Oh man.." Cherika fretted, ""Have you seen my sketch book, Kichi?"

"Did you pack it?" I asked, "Or did you leave it at home on your desk?"

She continued rummaging through her bag for her sketch book as she started to worry, her eyes darted around frantically. She started panting softly.

"Oh no, did I leave it on the shelf with my other art supplies!?" she wondered, breathing a bit too fast, "Not again…"

Her hand swished through her bag some more, eventually emptying it out onto the limo's soft carpet. She began fumbling around some more, searching for her book, kneeling down, and perusing the bag's contents. She was looking through her clothes and art supplies' bag.

"Cherry," I replied to her, pulling something out of my bag, "Is this it?"

She turned to face me, her sad blue eyes glistened with surprise as she saw me holding a bright red book with black ink printing. There were white letters reading 'My Sketch Book.'

"Thanks, Kichi…" she smiled happily, taking the notebook from me and opening it up to see if her sketches were still inside, "Oh thank goodness they're all still intact… minus a few crinkles in the corners."

I chuckled as she began repacking her bag rather messily. However, she kept her small pillow wrapped around her arms for comfort since she was still a bit sleepy from the journey.

As the limo started to slow down, the driver rolled down the window behind him and turned to look at us. He had stopped somewhere.

"Alright, you two, we're here," he said, turning off the engine and putting it in park.

"Ok, just give us some time to get our things in order," I told him as he rolled up the window and exited the car.

This is it. The day we've been waiting for. I couldn't hold in my elation anymore as a rush of thoughts entered my mind all at once. Is this program really going to work? Is there a one hundred percent guarantee it will work? What would happen to our talents once they're gone? Would we go back to living regular lives? Are we really going to be...normal?

I shook my head, patted my face, and reassured myself that everything was going to be alright. I need to be brave right now. If I wasn't sure of something, I would beat myself up about it later. I would be in a mental struggle with myself if I did, so I better put on a good face for when we meet him.

"Mhmm!" said the driver, trying to get our attention. The door to the limo was wide open. "I hope you two have a lovely stay here at the Reverse Revival project, and, good luck."

"Thank you sir," I responded to him politely, "Come on Cherry, let's go."

"O-Okay…" she whimpered as we both exited the limo, our bags in hand as we stepped outside.

We were met with a warm light radiating from above. Our eyes blinked a few times to adjust to the environment after 8 hours in a dark limo. We moved out of the way as the limo driver drove back onto the road. We turned around to see where we ended up.

"Where are we?" I wondered curiously as I looked ahead in the far distance.

The area seemed to be some sort of mountain-desert like setting. There were cliffs and giant sized rocks all around the place. There were some sand dunes located in the area that were deeper than a lake, then a forest further away that had tall dark green trees which looked as if they'd been here for decades, left untrimmed as they almost reached the sky with how tall they were. The only road that I could see was the one the driver drove off on, the car however having gotten further and further away from us.

"Huh...is this really where the project is going to be conducted?" I questioned, a bit unsure where we were.

"Um...Kichi…" Cherika tugged at my sleeve, "Over there."

I turned around, adjusted my eyes to the bright sunlight, and was both surprised and shocked at what I was seeing.

In front of us, we could see a tall wall with a giant wooden door. It loomed over us as we stared at it. The door itself was wider than three table lengths and converged into an oval like peak at the top, the wood had swirly carvings in the design and was painted in very bright pastel colors- pink, blue, red, green, orange and a whole lot of other miscellaneous colors that I couldn't remember the names of.

The walls around the giant door were long and extended close to the mountain areas. It was decorated with a carnival-like wallpaper. Some images that were painted onto it were alike to amusement park rides including a roller coaster, ferris wheel, and a bunch of other ones. Some of those included multi-colored fireworks, clowns wearing poofy outfits in mismatched colors, red and white circus tents, and talking animal mascots. There were even words written in black ink, but they were a bit hard to make out due to the animal claw marks scratched into the paper and the faded colors that must have worn out over time. Cobwebs were strewn all over the edges while tiny little insects crawled along the walls which ate at the wallpaper. The door itself also looked to be growing mold, some splinters sticking out and green moss appearing in the wooden frame.

"Looks like we're here," I turned to look at Cherika, "Want to head inside?"

She seemed a bit wary of the place, judging the ominous entrance and the project's site. It was understandable given the presentation and the fact that no one came to greet us or anything like the program promised it would. I guess we have to introduce ourselves first before we get initiated into this program.

The two of us approached the door, pushing it open. We were shocked at the sight in front of us. I was amazed they chose a place like this to do the orientation.

Out of all the places it could have been, it was a freaking carnival!

Where to begin describing this place!- is what crossed my mind as to how huge this place was on a grand scale of things. As soon as we entered inside, we were filled with mixed emotions of intrigue and bewilderment.

There were red and white striped carnival booths with signs above each one, reading the name of their specific game- balloon darts, water clown squirters, bottle toss, crane machines with stuffed prizes inside, beanbag and ring toss, a duck pond game where everyone wins a prize, a test your strength meter, dunk tank, kissing booth and even a giant red and black spotted bouncy castle that looked slightly deflated from the heat exposure.

Upon observing the booths a bit more closely, the door behind us closed shut, making a loud _thud_ noise and jump scaring us in the process.

"Ah!" Cherika jumped and dropped her bag from her fright, "Oh my….that was s-scary."

"You can say that again," I clutched my chest in panic, "Let's look around a bit more."

We walked around the carnival booth area, getting better looks at each one up close. They seemed to be abandoned, but they somehow looked as if they could still work if you cleaned them up properly. Cobwebs and dust littered the area as I almost sneezed from getting too close. Yellow sand was scattered around the rocky ground. The games which featured water themed elements seemed to have dried up from the hot desert sun and was now filled with small patches of dirt and mud.

"Well, at least this place isn't so bad," I sighed, pondering what else is in store for us, "Needs a good cleaning, but oh well."

"Hey, look...a f-fortune teller booth," Cherika pointed to a small blue tent, which had mystical symbols all over its exterior.

The design was fashioned with whimsical insignias such as evil eyes, swirls, and even question marks as they all sparkled a glittery blue color. There were some leftover residue sprinkled on the ground as well to add on to its whimsical feel.

"Oh, cool!" I remarked, heading over there in excitement, "Maybe we can get our fortunes read for us!"

"Maybe…" she mumbled, following close behind me, "I'm not so sure about this…"

We entered the tent, escaping the sun's rays as the inside was almost pitch black. There was a faint light peering in from the top of the tent's roof. It seemed it was reflecting off of a crystal ball in the middle of the room, on top of a table.

"Wow...this is so magical," I gazed in awe of the room.

"I don't know about this.." Cherika worried.

"Welcome," said a voice from inside the tent, "You must be Ekichirou Yoshirenku, Ultimate Lucky Student and Cherika Yoshirenku, Ultimate Unlucky Student, am I correct?"

"Oh my gosh!" I freaked out from the sudden noise, "Who's there...and how do you know my name and my sisters'?!"

"Is it...a g-ghost?" Cherika trembled.

"Haha, are you two surprised I know your names?" the mysterious voice chuckled, "Don't be, I foresaw that you two would come here."

"Huh?" I wondered, "Where are you? And for that matter who are you?"

As the voice began chuckling some more, the light in the room started to illuminate the dimly lit tent. The darkness faded away to reveal a shimmering radiance of mystery and mysticism. It was dark blue like the outside, but the interior had stars, moons, and swirly suns decorated in gold etchings and highlighted by purple shimmering glitter. The table resting underneath the crystal ball was covered by a purple silk cloth, which had silver sparkles in the shapes of third eyes and shooting stars.

"I'm behind you," the wistful sounding voice echoed as I turned around.

"Holy crap!" I exclaimed, jumping back a bit.

Cherika stood behind me as she fell onto the floor. I put my arms up in defense, having seen the person looking at us calmly as if they couldn't see that I was cautious of them.

"No need to worry," the person said, "I didn't mean to frighten you both."

I dusted off my clothing as I got a better look at the person who greeted us in a rather unorthodox way.

The mysterious person was a boy who seemed to be a few inches shorter than my sister and I. So, that meant he must be younger than us as well.

His face was shaped like a heart which made him look very young and almost feminine. His nose was small and pointy, almost as if he sharpened it to a pencil point. Then, his skin was very pale, almost as if he were a vampire. His figure was lean, almost underweight, and his hair was a dark purple color that shimmered like the glitter in the tent's atmosphere. However, it was cut unevenly near his shoulders, as if his barber wore a blindfold, took a pair of scissors, and went to town on his head.

His overall clothing is the one thing that stood out the most to me, as he looked like something out of a fantasy manga.

He wore a formal white short-sleeved, buttoned-up, collared shirt with a violet pinstripe vest that complemented his somber hair color. He then wore a red necktie around his collar that gave off a more sailor like vibe, plaid grey shorts, and black heel boots. However, the most notable thing about his attire was the cape draped over his shoulders. It was a black cloak with purple accented patterns near the bottom edges of the cape, almost like something a mage or mystic would wear. Then, over his eyes was a white eye cover with red eye-like art as the design. It looked like an ancient mystical symbol of sorts.

His overall clothing and appearance made him look like a cosplayer who just came out of an anime convention and got lost finding his way home or something.

"Well sneaking up on someone is-" I responded, nervously.

"Rude, yes it is," he interjected before I could answer, "My apologies, that was rather uncouth of me."

"W-Who are you?" Cherika asked, worriedly hiding behind my back.

"Forgive me, where are my manners," the boy bowed majestically, holding out his cloak, "My name is Nashi Akira, Ultimate Soothsayer, a pleasure to meet you both."

 **NASHI AKIRA - ULTIMATE SOOTHSAYER**

"S-Soothsayer?" Cherika mumbled curiously, "W-What's that?"

"Well more specifically," Nashi put his finger to his lips, "I'm sort of similar to the seers you see in video games, except my predictions are never wrong, you see."

"O-Oh…." I stammered, trying to understand what the boy was talking about.

Soothsayer...that's an odd talent for sure. But if he's an Ultimate like us, then he must be here for the program as well. I mean, that's the only explanation for him being here- well, unless he worked here or something.

"You're probably going to ask me, why I'm here?" Nashi calmly said, "Well, I guess it's fate. The wheels of destiny ever so flow in favor of this elusive decision that the universe has bestowed upon me."

Ok... he's talking in riddles in now, just what we needed. The first person we meet in this new environment and we're already confused out of our minds.

"Um...Nashi…" Cherika chimed in, "Are you-"

"Here for the Reverse Revival Project?" he interjected again calmly, "Simply put, yes, but my reasonsings are my own, such as you two's."

"So, you were dropped off here as well," I deduced, "So, does that mean other people are here as well, besides us three?"

"Yes," Nashi nodded, "Although I haven't met them yet, considering I've just arrived here like you two have, but I do know that they are here somewhere."

"Alright…thanks," I thought for a second, "Oh, one more question, Nashi."

"You're going to ask me how I can see with the eye cover over my face?" he surmised, "For you see, I was born blind."

Oh...that puts things into perspective, no pun intended. A blind soothsayer, I mean it makes sense, considering I've played many games and seen people like him in those before. But my question is- how did he actually get the ability to predict the future? Is it one of those mystical things where it can't be logically explained? Or is there some paranormal presence around him that no one understands? It's too much of a hassle to ask right now however.

"My apologies," I cleared my throat, "I'm sorry for asking. I didn't mean to be insensitive."

"Do not worry, you didn't know," Nashi giggled quietly, "I was always like this, so being able to predict the future is helpful you see."

"I-I see…" Cherika mumbled, "U-Um…."

"As much as I would love to stay and chat," I added to break the awkwardness of the scene, "We really should-"

"Go see if there are other people around?" Nashi concluded, "Don't worry. I don't mind, you two can go ahead without me. I actually want to stay here for a while and explore on my own."

"Ok, whatever you say," I said, walking outside of the tent as Cherika followed close behind, "see you later, Nashi."

"Farewell you two," he softly whispered, "I hope fortune favors you both in the end…"

Nashi adjusted his cloak before going to inspect the crystal ball on the table, feeling it to see if he could detect any energy emanating from it or something. His words to us as we departed sounded cryptic, but I wasn't going to question it at the moment.

My sister and I walked out of the tent, hoping to examine the carnival some more. We came across some more park themed attractions and rides.

Before them, a merry go round contained white horses with colorful saddles to ride on. Many other attractions were littered around the carnival, such as a love tunnel with a pink heart shaped entrance that lit up with bright neon colors, bumper cars that seemed to not work due to the rusted metal and brown stains, a malfunctioning mechanical bull that was moving rather slowly and haphazardly, a giant looping roller coaster that seemed to take up most of the carnival's land, and a swinging viking ship that was on the verge of falling from the beams it hung on. There was also a ferris wheel that seemed to tower even skyscrapers themselves with about fourteen cars, one missing at the bottom. Other rides included a purple octo ride missing two tentacles and one broken on the floor, a twirl-a-whirl, a giant drop tower that lacked any safety harnesses, and even giant slides with twisty and spiral tubes that seemed to be missing a few parts of it.

"Wow….this place l-looks like fun.." Cherika meekly mumbled, "A bit...creepy looking too."

"I know right," I gazed, in awe of all the rides, "It's almo-"

I stopped, almost losing my balance for a second as I felt my foot bump into something- or rather someone to be precise.

"Phew...that was a close one," I sighed, looking down to see a rather peculiar sight.

I saw a girl sleeping on the ground silently and peacefully. It was as if she didn't care that she was sleeping out in the open on a hot day like this. Her somewhat quiet snoring meant she might have been in a deep sleep, but I couldn't know for sure.

"K-Kichi.." Cherika walked in front of me and noticed the girl napping, "W-Who is she?"

"Not sure.." I told her, curious as well.

The slumbering girl seemed rather content with her comatose state. Her rich brown hair, which was wavy near the ends, was scattered all over the ground and her face. Her messy bangs were clipped back with a plain black hair clip to prevent any hair from covering her face. Her lightly tanned skin seemed healthy looking in this light and she had a very slender build, almost demure.

She wore a baggy brown sweater which was ruffled from her tossing and turning on the ground. It was tucked into a pair of black skinny jeans. Lastly, she wore plain white jogging shoes to compliment her simple look.

"Whoops...shhh.." I whispered to Cherika, "I think we should let her sleep for now.."

"Mhmgh…." said the sleeping girl, who groaned loudly, "W-What...mmm.."

I was taken aback by her sudden movement. I guess me bumping into her jostled her out of her slumber. She sat up, opening her eyes to reveal a violet color, like a gemstone's hue, and a beauty mark underneath her right eye.

"Who...are you..?" she sleepily moaned, rubbing her eyes, "Why did… you wake me up?"

"I'm so sorry," I apologized immediately, "I didn't mean to wake you up, my bad."

The girl's upturned, darkened eyes blinked a few times before she got a better look at the two of us. She seemed slightly annoyed by being awoken from her nap, but instead she sighed deeply.

"Whatever…" she stood up, yawning loudly covering her mouth "I might as well find somewhere else to lay down and rest."

"T-There's a bench...over there," Cherika pointed to a red one near a shaded tent area.

"Oh...thanks, I guess…" the sleepy girl noticed, walking over there sluggishly.

"Excuse me," I asked her, before she headed over there, "You didn't tell us your name?"

The girl turned around slowly, eyeing me with a sleepy, annoyed glare as she yawned once more. "Tsukae Shinzou….I'm the Ultimate Charmer, apparently," she yawned once more in between her sentences, "Nice to meet you...I suppose."

 **TSUKAE SHINZOU - ULTIMATE CHARMER**

"Nice to meet you too," I told her, "Are you-"

But before I could ask her another question, she was already at the bench fast asleep. Her body rested on the wooden surface as she went soundly back to snoring up a storm as if she didn't care that she ignored us.

"W-What should we do?" Cherika asked, a bit confused by Tsukae's indifference.

"I think we should leave her be for now," I sweatdropped, "It's pointless to pursue this further unless we want to irritate her more. Let's see if there's anyone else."

"Ok…" Cherika mumbled.

As the two of us walked around some more, we passed by a prize booth which sported a load of prizes and toys to be won. The display seemed to have a plentiful amount of sand and dust littered everywhere, like the other booths around here. The toys were all laced with cobwebs and open stitches, and it seemed some bugs were eating into the fluff of some teddy bears. They were almost giving off a grotesque image of a once cuddly plushie.

"That's really freaky…poor bear," Cherika walked by, trembling at the unnerving sight.

She kept eyeing the creepy stuffed animals as she tripped into what seems to be a silver trash can that was close by.

"Oh!" she fell to the floor, "Ouch…"

"Cherry!" I rushed to her as she fell flat on her face, "Are you okay!?"

"Oww….thanks Kichi..I'm fine," she mumbled, rubbing her left arm, "I hope I didn't get a bruise…"

"That was a nasty fall you took there," I noticed, checking her person, "Are you sure you're alright?"

"Yes Kichi…" she rolled her eyes, "But I guess we made a-"

Cherika stopped talking once she looked over at the knocked over trash can. Her expression changed to a surprised one as I followed her gaze to see what she was looking at.

I noticed the trash can didn't have any garbage inside since there seemed to be no mess spilt on the floor, but what we didn't expect to see was someone hiding inside the trash can!?

We noticed a guy crawl out of it, rubbing his head in pain from the can falling on its side and hitting him on impact.

"Aww man...not again," he said, emerging from the trash can, "Looks like I need to find a better place to put this..."

"Umm…." I wasn't sure what to say as he turned around and saw us. His expression seemed to change from despondent to shocked instantly.

"Oh...there's people here," he noticed, "Sorry...I was in the way, my bad."

I got a better look at him now that he had exited his hiding place.

He had short messy light green hair that seemed slightly all over the place, but somehow it was manageable. His hair was almost chartreuse in color, reaching above his eyebrows, ears and nape of his head. He had chocolate brown eyes and his skin was pale but on the fair side. His build was rather healthy looking but on the average side.

His outfit consisted of dark blue rail workwear you'd see people who work in trainyards wear, a yellow high visibility safety vest left open, a pair of black gloves on his hands, black boots on his feet, and, well, it was hard to make out- it seemed he wore a necklace of sorts, but it was obscured by his clothing.

"No, no, it's alright," I responded, reassuring him, "It was an accident is all."

"W-Who are you?" Cherika asked, rubbing her right knee, "And w-why are you inside a trash can?"

"It's not important…you'll probably forget it sooner or later," he sulked, "My name is Gabriel Mudd, but you can call me Gabe...if you want to...I don't mind."

"Ok Gabe…" I was a bit worried due to his melancholic tone, "Why are you here? Do you have an Ultimate Talent as well?"

"Yes…." he nodded, "It's nothing special...it's honestly pretty laughable."

"What is it?" Cherika asked curiously.

"I'm a….." he trailed off, "A garbologist…"

 **GABRIEL MUDD - ULTIMATE GARBOLOGIST**

"Garbologist?" I tilted my head in confusion,, "So like a garbage collector?"

"Heh...pretty lame huh...they only gave me that title because, I guess, it sounded fancier," Gabe sighed, "I don't mind, but it's not something I'm proud of."

"So, you're here to remove your talent as well?" I deduced, "Like the two of us?"

"Oh...so you two joined this project as well," his eyes lit up for a bit, "I haven't met anyone else here yet, so I don't know."

"Yes, nice to meet you," I extended a hand to him, "Ekichirou Yoshirenku, Ultimate Lucky Student."

Once I said that, Gabe's expression turned from an indifferent one to a cautious one almost on command. He took my hand and shook it, but he seemed a bit wiggly from how much he wanted to stop the handshake, letting go as soon as I loosened my grip on his hand.

"Oh...that's your talent...cool," he rubbed his right shoulder, "I wish I had a talent like that…"

"And this is my twin sister, Cherika," I moved to the side, so that he could see her, "Ultimate Unlucky Student."

"H-Hello…" she whispered meekly, "I hope w-we can get along, Gabe…"

"Oh hello there," he woke up from his daze, "I guess we both have talents that are sort of similar in a way.."

"Huh, w-what do you mean by that?" Cherika mused. She was looking at him, unsure of what he meant.

"Oh...it's nothing, ignore me," he dejectedly responded, rubbing the back of his head, "I'll be out of your way. It was nice meeting you two."

He seemed to be an okay guy so far, but his attitude once I told him my name and talent seemed to change at the drop of a dime. I don't recall the two of us meeting before, so his reaction to our greeting felt a bit weird. The garbage can squatting aside, he seems normal so far, so I can let that slide.

"Same here, Gabe," I smiled at him, trying to mitigate the awkwardness of the moment, "Well have fun...with what you're doing."

"See you later…" Cherika waved to him.

"Sure," he sighed, picking up his garbage can that fell over and dusting it off from the sand.

We left Gabriel to his devices as we walked around the carnival grounds some more.

We stumbled across what looked to be a dilapidated old house. The house had grungy green, grey, and black colors blended into the house's exterior color scheme. The roof shingles looked like they were falling off bit by bit. The windows were shaded and it was hard to see what was on the inside, a shadowy like atmosphere having encapsulated the entire house. The front entrance had brown dying grass, gravestones in the ground with names and dates of deceased people that were blocked out. Cobwebs were lining the stone pillars that ran alongside the entrances' stone walkway, a spiky metal picket fence around the edges of the yard.

"What is t-this?" Cherika asked, a bit fearful of the house.

"A haunted house I think…" I said to her, "A very run down one from the looks of it."

While I was busy inspecting the house further, with my sister trembling at the sight of this place's daunting presence, I thought I heard something fall onto the ground, as if two things bumped into each other at the same time.

"Oof!" said a female voice, "Watch where you're going!"

"It's not my fault you were standing there," said a male voice, "Why don't you get some glasses so you can see where you're going next time."

"Excuse me!?" the female voice sounded a bit upset, hearing the response from the male voice, "You bumped into me, jackass."

"This doesn't sound too good," I thought to myself, "Better make sure no one gets hurt."

I decided to investigate as Cherika followed closely behind, wanting to escape from the haunted house's line of sight as quickly as possible.

As I turned a corner, I saw what appeared to be an argument between two people- one a guy, and the other a girl. The two seemed to be in some sort of heated discussion of sorts, judging from how loudly they were talking.

"You better apologize right now!" the girl yelled at the guy.

She had a very lean and slim build- somewhat making her look a bit tomboyish. Her dark brown hair was tied into two messy buns, her fringe slightly messy with some wavy strands and red star hair slides pinned to keep it in place. She had roughly almond shaped eyes that were greyish purple in color, like an amethyst gem. She also had sharp angular facial features, which, however, weren't that noticeable. She then had a light tan skin tone, her elbows and knees having a rough look to them as if she had been doing a lot of strenuous activity to cause that. Her hands had calluses on them and a couple of scars were on the back of her legs.

She wore a white sleeveless top with the words 'YOU DON'T KNOW ME' in all capitals, inked with dark red letters. She was also wearing a ruffled black skirt held up by a red worn-looking belt, a gold star shaped buckle on the front, light brown ankle cowboy boots with gold ankle straps, black knee high socks on her feet, and for accessories the girl wore a silver necklace with a hummingbird pendant resting on her chest. She was also wearing silky red ribbons tied around both of her wrists into little bows that emphasized a cutesy look to her.

From her overall appearance, she looked like some sort of fashion model, but from her scars and calluses, she resembled some sort of athlete. She seemed to be very angry with the person she was arguing with who, in comparison to her, seemed more annoyed if anything.

"I shouldn't have to have to say sorry for something that wasn't my fault," he moaned.

He had dark blue long hair which went past his shoulders- it was very wild looking and was tied up into a ponytail behind him. His dark brown eyes were mostly covered by his bangs and I almost mistook the color of his eyes as being black, judging from the dark circles under them. His face was round shaped. I caught a glimpse of a small mole underneath his right eye and a hint of a scar on his forehead. His skin was very pale, but he had an average build and he looked a slightly taller than the girl- maybe even the same height as me.

He wore an old band shirt with the logo faded away so you couldn't tell the design, but they looked like white lines on his shirt. Over it was a dark blue jacket that was opened up, however it seemed too big for him since his hands were covered up by the sleeves. He wore light blue jeans with holes scattered throughout with a black belt around his waist. Though, the odd part was the fact his pants were sagging slightly despite this. His shoes were black tennis brands, though the shoelaces were untied and his socks didn't match, one being a blue ankle sock on his left foot and a black longer one on his right foot.

His attire was sloppy if anything. He looked as if he didn't care about his appearance whatsoever and scavenged through a dumpster or something. I'm not one to judge clothing styles, since I mostly wear a lot of green clothing, but this guy was a hot mess in comparison to the girl who looked as if she went to a teenage clothing store and went all out on the accessories and outfits.

"Next time watch where you're going, idiot," she snapped at him, crossing her arms and adjusting the ribbons on her wrists, "Maybe get a haircut next time or wear pants that actually fit you."

"If you wore any more gaudy accessories like that then you might as well look like an overdressed traffic light," the man retorted, sighing deeply.

"You son of a-" the girl was about to slap him.

"Excuse me," I intervened before it got nasty, "What's going on here?"

The two of them stopped conversing, both looking at the two of us with disconcerted and annoyed expressions on their faces.

"Who are you?" the girl scoffed, "Mind your own business."

"This is such a pain.." the guy groaned.

Well excuse me for trying to be a mediator here. Might as well try a new approach instead, or else this will get nasty. Cherika seemed too hesitant and nervous to open her mouth out of fear of being yelled at, so she cowered behind me instead.

"Oh pardon me, I'm Ekichirou and this is my sister Cherika," I cleared my throat and decided to remain cordial and calm, ""May we ask you two your names?"

"Oh, is that all? Well, whatever," the girl crossed her arms, "Shannon Akahoshi, Ultimate Runner. Happy now?"

 **SHANNON AKAHOSHI - ULTIMATE RUNNER**

"Shannon?" I asked, "You have an English name?"

"Is there a problem with that?" she raised an eyebrow, "It's nothing special, my parents wanted me to have a western name since it translated well into Japanese or some crap like that."

Huh that's interesting, it's not everyday you hear a Japanese person having a name like that.

"I think it's a cool name," I added, trying to assuage her frustration, "It's very exotic."

"Hmph, thanks, I like it as well," she crossed her arms and scoffed some more, not amused whatsoever.

"Yay for you," the guy interjected, "But no one actually cares, it's just a name at the end of the day."

Shannon glared at the shaggy haired man as he didn't seem phased by her icy cold stare.

"And you are?" I asked him.

"Itsuki Ogasawara, Ultimate EMT," he said bluntly and curtly, "No need to get excited over it."

 **ITSUKI OGASAWARA - ULTIMATE EMT**

"Oh, so you're like a paramedic," I remarked, my eyes opening a bit from his talent reveal, "That's awesome!"

"Technically I'm not a paramedic, there's a distinct difference," he corrected me, "I work for more private companies compared to those wannabe hacks."

Well, he's rather charming. Not only is his appearance rather disorganized to say the least, but his upfront and unfiltered tone came off very condescending, in a sense. I mean appearances and first impressions can be deceiving, but I think I might grit my teeth and hold his words with a pinch of salt. For now I'll let these two settle their differences first.

"An EMT," Shannon snorted, "Could have fooled me, you look more like some hobo off the street who took a first aid course for validation."

"I'm sorry, don't you have some eating disorder you need to be attending to right now?" Itsuki smugly added.

"Are you looking for a fight!?" Shannon grumbled at him.

"Um…" Cherika anxiously whispered to me, "Should we go…?"

"I think it's for the best," I sweatdropped, "Those two seem to be at each other's throats right now, let's not get into the crosshairs."

The two of them continued to argue, their body language clearly showing signs of hostility and anger. It was as if they were debating over a controversial topic when it was in actuality over something pointless, like two dogs fighting over a piece of meat.

We decided to leave them to kiss and make up, escaping their rage and looking for safety somewhere else. We walked around the carnival grounds some more and came across what seemed to be some kind of outdoor movie theater area. We observed it and noticed it was shaded by a large grey tent, which provided some shelter from the sun's intense rays.

We headed inside to get a better look, and also to escape the sweltering heat.

There were about 30 foldable chairs with five in about a row of six. There was a black stand at the back of the room with a projector and film reels in a box near it, a furry green and black carpet covered the floor underneath the chairs, and there seemed to be a little snack area inside. Over there was a popcorn machine, a liquid butter dispenser, a stand with nuts and trail mix, and a drink station inside with five different flavors of soda.

"Ooh, this place looks really cool," I whistled happily, looking at the fancy equipment inside, "Must have cost a lot to maintain this set up."

"I wonder what kind of m-movies they h-have.." Cherika wondered as she sat down on a chair, only for it to collapse on her suddenly.

"Aww man, ouch.." she plopped onto the ground, rubbing her butt.

"I got you sis," I offered her my hand, "These chairs must be old, since this place looks abandoned."

"Thanks...I'll stand for now," she rubbed her back and played with her sleeves.

Still, I have to wonder what they used this place for in such a loud site as this one.

I walked closer to the screen to hear a tapping noise coming from somewhere inside the room. I peered around behind it to see someone inside the tent with us as well.

It was a girl this time. She seemed a bit restless as she perused the nuts stand and inspected the packaging of each one.

"Hello?" I called out to her, "Who are you?"

"Oh," the girl noticed me call out to her as she turned around, "I didn't know anyone else was in here, forgive me."

"It's no problem, we just came inside to check it out and escape the sun" I chuckled.

"I see, hehe," she spoke calmly, making a small smile, "Well, I'm glad you made it out alive."

I got a better look at her when she walked out from behind the screen. She rested the nuts back on the stand as she appeared out to meet me.

She had wavy maroon hair that reached her shoulders in a bob like fashion, ending in waves. It was in contrast to her bangs which were cut straight across her forehead, her hair seeming to drape over her shoulders and some of it covering her eyes. However, it was maintained with a blue hair clip. Her soft pale skin and youthful face made her look like a petite porcelain doll with her pale blue eyes complimented her overall look. She was slightly tall, but a bit shorter than me with a lean build and a skinny upper body with wide hips. Her hands, as well as her long fingers, had calluses on them as if she had been writing for a long time.

She wore a simple black halter tank top with a large white bass clef printed on the left side, a blue denim jacket extending to her waist over her shirt, a red and black plaid pleated skirt that went just above her knees and black canvas sneakers on her feet.

She had a very elegant but simple look to her. She didn't look overdressed nor did she stood out too much.

"Are you two by chance participating in the project as well?" she asked, politely sitting down on a nearby chair.

"Yes we are, it's very nice to meet you," I regained my composure and looked at her, "My name is Ekichirou Yoshirenku and this is my twin sister Cherika."

"Oh, so you're twins," she seemed a bit surprised, "Forgive me, I didn't know. You two don't look that much alike."

"Don't worry, we're fraternal," I rubbed the back of my head, "And you are?"

"Oh, where are my manners," she calmly spoke, tapping her foot slowly, "I'm Shion Ninomiya. You can call me Shion if you want, I'm the Ultimate Songwriter."

 **SHION NINOMIYA - ULTIMATE SONGWRITER**

"Ooh that's a really cool talent," I noted, sort of impressed in a sense, "But why would you want to get rid of such a cool talent like that, Shion?"

She sighed, fiddling with her fingers and playing thumb wrestle with herself.

"It's a stressful career," she said, looking a bit glum, "I guess I just lost motivation to write, is all."

Shion seemed a bit hesitant when mentioning her reason, but I shouldn't pry since it's none of my business. It's best not to intrude in her personal affairs.

"Oh, ok," I nodded, "So, what band or singer did you write music for?"

"I'm not sure if you've heard of this one, it's really obscure," she thought, "Ever heard of a band called Flowerstorm?"

I shook my head, not sure who that was, but someone tapped my shoulder. I looked to my side to see Cherika, her eyes lighting up and her face turning to awe.

"Oh my gosh…" Cherika got a bit closer to Shion, "I love that band!"

I looked at Cherika, a small smile forming on her face as she fixed back her messy hair, clearly a bit nervous when she talked to Shion.

"My favorite song is 'Yotsuba no Kuroba', also known as Four-Leaved Clover," Cherika ecstatically commented, "It's so amazing, one of my favorites from their album!"

"Oh my, I see we have a fan," Shion smiled playfully, "It's my favorite song as well!"

Cherika was having the time of her life. She was chatting off Shion's ear about songs that she loved and they so happened to be the ones Shion wrote. She was happy to humor a fan as they both sat down on a chair and began discussing music related topics.

It's almost nice. Cherika rarely shows this side of herself, so it's good to see that she was able to meet someone who inspired her.

"Wow, you really know a lot about Flowerstorm," Shion giggled some more.

"O-Oh...sorry," Cherika backed down, "I just….their music..your songwriting...it really helped me through a t-tough time in my life."

"I'm glad to hear it," Shion nodded, "Well it was a pleasure meeting you two, I hope to see you later, I would like to check out this theater's facilities some more."

"Sure thing Shion," I said to her, "Let's go Cherry."

"Bye Shion..." Cherika mumbled.

As we waved to the songwriter, the two of us walked around some more, wondering what else was in store for us.

"Umm..Kichi," Cherika tugged at my arm, "Is there anything to eat around here? I didn't have breakfast this morning."

I looked at her face. She was about ready to pass out; her skin was pale, her eyes sleepy, and her stomach growling loudly as she was wobbling from side to side.

"Oh shoot, I knew I was forgetting something," I facepalmed, "I didn't have time to prepare a meal beforehand or pack any snacks. My bad, sis."

"It's ok," she mumbled, "Do you smell that?"

I wasn't sure what she was talking about until my nose picked up a scent. A very delicious one at that, almost succulent, but in a sweet way. It was hard to describe; it smelt minty, but fruity at the same time.

"Is there a food court around here?" I thought, "How convenient."

I walked around, following the delicious scent until we came across an outdoor food court of sorts. The scent grew stronger as it seemed someone was cooking something inside.

There were about five maroon bench tables in the food court and a large trash can stood at the right end of the court. On the other side there was a lot of food being prepared and it looked almost like a buffet of sorts- there were stands with food and machines to cook them with.

There was a popcorn maker currently making buttery popcorn, a hot dog maker and bags of buns on the side near the machine, a cotton candy machine, pretzels in a display, candied apples inside of a glass container with about twenty two of them- fourteen caramel coated and eight chocolate coated. There were also corn dogs on a spinning rack, funnel cakes, french fry fryers and fries resting on cooling racks in paper packaging, a soup stand with four flavors of soup, a snow cone machine with about twenty flavors, a pizza oven with about five flavors of pizza inside a glass heating case, a huge basket of nacho chips with a hot cheese dispenser on the side, a chocolate fountain with fruit, crackers, and other dipping foods with skewers. Off to the side, on white plates, was a soft serve ice cream machine with about ten flavors of ice cream and cones. They even fried ice cream, which were resting on napkins. There was a candy section with giant chocolate chip cookies, swirled lollipops the size of my head, a cupcake display with the most elegantly iced ones we've ever seen, and a slushie machine with about ten flavors of icy goodness.

"Wow…" Cherika commented, entering inside the food court. Her mouth dribbled with drool as she stared at the food in front of her, like a kid in a candy store.

"This is really something," I whistled, taking an eyeful of the food, "Want me to get some for you, Cherry?"

"Sure," she nodded, playing with her sleeves as she sat down on the middle bench, "I could e-eat a horse right n-now…"

"Heh, ok, be right back," I laughed, heading over there.

While I perused the food supply, I saw something boiling on top of a stove burner, which looked to be pot full of water with a glass lid on top, bubbles forming on the rim of the glass.

"Huh, I wonder what this is for?" I tilted my head. I opened up the lid, steam pouring out.

"Excuse me," said a voice from behind, "Are you perhaps looking for something?"

I turned around, slightly alarmed by a voice that wasn't my sister's and saw someone else entirely. I dropped the lid back onto the pot as another guy who I've never seen before surprised me.

"Oh, it's nothing," I gulped, "I was just trying to get my sister some food is all."

I got a good look of him as he stood in front of me. He was taller by a few inches with a fairly built body that didn't seem that impressive. His light brown skin complimented his round light brown eyes, along with his hair having been fashioned into a spiky jet black look. Upon further inspection, his hair looked gelled back, though a few strands were sticking up despite this. His nose was upturned with thin lips, his hands and feet were slightly bigger than average, and his skin looked a bit rough- probably suggesting he's a hard worker or something along those lines.

He wore a white collared shirt with a dark green knitted vest over it, a red bowtie tied around his collar, black dress pants that were neatly pressed from the laundry with a black belt and brown leather dress shoes, giving off a very formal look. He also wore a silver wristwatch on his right wrist along with a gold necklace with a pendant in the shape of an A rested on his chest and there seemed to be a bag of sorts attached to his belt.

He gave off a very formal aura, accompanied with a very clean and neatly dressed appearance. He must be someone who valued his looks or was traditional in a sense.

"Oh, is that all," he remarked, rubbing his hands together, "Would she care for some tea as well?"

"Um..sure.." I sweated a little, "And you are?"

The man looked worried as he cleared his throat and proceeded to bow to me, almost like a servant to his master.

"My apologies, how rude of me," he said, "Pleasure to meet you. My name is Asahi Fujioka, the Ultimate Tea Brewer. Is there anything else you need from me?

 **ASAHI FUJIOKA - ULTIMATE TEA BREWER**

Well, he doesn't waste time making a very polite greeting. It feels a bit weird for him to bow when he looks to be the same age as me, despite the height difference.

"Hey Asahi," I regained my composure, "I'm Ekichirou Yoshirenku, and the girl over there at the table is my sister Cherika, nice to meet you."

"I am delighted to make your acquaintance, Ekichirou," he gestured politely, "I was in the middle of making oolong tea, would you like some?"

"I guess so, thanks," I didn't want to be rude, so I agreed.

"Your sister is sitting there patiently," he pointed to a clearly anxious Cherika, "You wouldn't want to keep a lady waiting, now do you?"

"Oh shoot, thanks for reminding me," I shook my head, grabbing a sample of each food item, "See you later, Asahi."

"You're very welcome," he chuckled, heading to the stove top to attend to his tea, "The tea will be ready in a few minutes."

"Ok sure," I nodded.

I took a paper plate from nearby and grabbed a plastic fork and knife along with a slice of pepperoni pizza. I also took a few strawberries dipped in chocolate from the fountain and a red slushie drink from the machine in a jumbo sized cup. Hopefully this is enough to satiate her hunger.

I headed over to her as she sat there looking at the clouds above, she seemed to be lost in thought, maybe daydreaming about something.

"Order up!" I said serving her the food, "Make sure to leave a nice tip for your waiter."

"You're such a d-dork," Cherika giggled, "Thanks Kichi, this looks r-really good."

"No problem," I smiled, sitting down and watching her eat her food ecstatically.

She took the fork and knife, then instantly began cutting the pizza into tiny bits. The melted cheese was oozing off of each piece and the greasy pepperoni was dripping as she put a small bite into her mouth.

"Mhmm!" Cherika ate happily, "This pizza is so good! It's creamy and at the same time crispy on the edges!"

I sat there amused as I decided to go fix myself a snack as well. I headed over to the food stands and grabbed a paper plate, putting nachos to the side and pouring hot cheese on the other. I also took a blue cotton candy stick and a caramel apple, resting them on my plate. To top if off, I took a cherry cola soda in a large cup to wash it all down .

"AGH!" I heard coming from over by the tables, "Oh shit!"

I dropped my food on a nearby table and saw Cherika gasping for air, her face turning a faint red color and her clutching her throat as if she were in pain.

"Cherry! Oh god!" I rushed over to her, panicked and worried, "I'm almost there! Hang on!"

She must have swallowed a piece of pizza or taken a bite of the strawberry and didn't chew properly. Why am I such an idiot, I got too careless.

"Yahaaa!" said a voice from out of nowhere.

"Wha-" I curiously commented, stopping in my tracks.

Then like lightning, someone had appeared from nowhere. A girl jumped into the food court, from the sides, and grabbed Cherika and began giving her the Heimlich maneuver. Her hands wrapped around her chest as the girl pushed back onto, Cherika's face turning almost redder in color.

"One...two...three!" the girl said, giving a hard push.

As that happened a piece of chewed up food, which looked like a half bitten strawberry, popped out of Cherika's mouth and flew across the room, hitting Asahi in the back of the head and making him drop a cup in the process.

"Sorry about that Asahi," I waved to him, awkwardly.

"It's quite alright," he said, picking up the broken cup fragments.

I looked back to Cherika as she began gasping for air, her hand resting on her chest as her face turned back to a flushed red hue.

"You should really be more careful when eating your food," the girl smiled, "Or else the kami will give you a tummy ache for spoiling mother nature's fruits of labor."

I was confused by her words as I got a good look at her appearance.

She was shorter than the average girl, maybe a bit under 5 feet. Her lean muscles suggested that she worked outdoors, but given her youthful appearance it was hard to tell. Her dark black hair was tied into two curly pigtails going over her shoulders- the left one tied back with a monkey face hair clip tie and the right with a deer faced one. Her fringe was wild as if she never cut it properly and left it like that, and her eyes were the strangest part of her- they were a candy floss pastel pink color that were highlighted under her thin eyelids and unkempt eyelashes. Her roundish oval-shaped face made her look childlike, but her dimples only added to the cuteness of her look. Her nose was button-like and her lips were tiny while her ears were hidden underneath her long hair. The girl's porcelain pale skin seemed to contrast a lot with her appearance and she seemed to have small scars littered over her body, some recent and some faded.

Her outfit consisted of a rose pink cropped halter top with embroidered sakura blossoms near the bottom ends. She wore a mini length dark brown handkerchief skirt that flowed loosely in the wind with a corded brown utility belt on the top part, pockets full of stuff. She wore a grey wooly cardigan with oversized sleeves that seemed too big for her, almost wrapped around her like a blanket. On the bottom she wore dark brown ankle boots with a fringe effect on the sides, small heels on the back of each shoe, and, to complete her look, she wore bracelets on her wrists of rocks of different sizes and colors.

A very wild and over the top outfit; she must be one of those nature enthusiasts or environmentalists or something.

"Thank you so much for saving my sister," I went over to Cherika and rubbed her back, "I can't thank you enough."

"The kami might not be so willing to help you out next time," she giggled, "She is lucky that I was around. It's a fateful day indeed."

I was even more confused by her vernacular. I was a bit worried with her talking weirdly like that, but she saved my sister's life, so I won't question it.

"I'm sorry, we didn't get your name," I asked her, a bit delirious from the confusion.

"Yes yes," she smiled and giggled some more, clasping her hands together and her eyes widening a lot, "Hi hi hi, my name is Shiho Mukai! I'm the Ultimate Survivalist! Are you as excited as I am about all of this?! It's so nice to meet you two!"

 **SHIHO MUKAI - ULTIMATE SURVIVALIST**

Now Shiho was someone who definitely stood out of a crowd for sure. Her vivacious aura and childlike appearance emphasized her overall attitude. I didn't know what to make of her outfit or her funny way of talking, but I knew she went out of her way to assist someone in need and that's what stuck out the most to me.

"So Shiho, are you here for the RR project as well?" I asked her.

"Oh yes!" she playfully smiled, "Mother nature and the kami have spoken highly about it and allowed me to join this program. It's going to be fun like swinging on branches and trees while running away from angry macaques."

"I-I see…" I sweatdropped some more, "But thanks a lot."

"I shall head over to the flower garden," she enthusiastically chirped, "I bid you two farewell!"

"Ok, see you later," I said to her.

Shiho said her piece, jumped over the side of the wall, and went off to do whatever it was that she was planning to do in the garden- if there was one.

"She's...wild," Cherika remarked, "I didn't get to t-thank her p-properly."

"Oh well," I sighed, facing Cherika and rubbing her shoulders, "At least you're okay now, that's all that matters."

"I guess so...I'm not t-that hungry anymore," she winced, clearing her throat, "But thanks Kichi."

"All that matters is that you're safe," I hugged her as she hugged me back.

I threw away the food into the trash can nearby, walking with Cherika to the nearest bathroom so that she could calm down and relax under splashing cold water.

We came across an outdoor-like restroom. It was a small square building made from painted light blue stone. There were no doors so there were open rectangular frames in the wall to enter through and there was a dark blue sign with a male stick figure on the front on the left side and the pink sign with a female stick figure on the right side.

"I'll be outside if you need me," I leaned against the wall, "Call for me if you slip inside."

"Ok.." she mumbled, entering the female restroom slowly as to avoid tripping on the white tile floor.

I rested on the wall nearby, adjusting my cap to let my hair stand out a bit before putting my hands in my pockets.

"Now what to do, I'm pretty sure we've seen some parts of this carnival," I thought to myself, "But why did Mr. Yanagi choose this venue for the project out of all places?"

I kept thinking to myself on why this abandoned carnival, but it's none of my business to tell him how to run his project. He does have an odd sense of humor if that's the case.

"Hello there," said a female's voice, "What are you doing by the girl's bathroom?"

I jumped from my position and looked around, seeing a girl appear from my right as she tilted her head in confusion. Oh gosh, I just met her and she's going to assume I'm some filthy pervert, got to think of something fast.

I might as well visualize what she looks like first, before anything else.

She had a skinny build with a hint of muscle in her frame and a flat chest. Her face was angular with freckles in light clusters on her cheeks, making her look younger, almost similarly to Shiho but this girl was much different. Her honey brown hair was straggled and messily tied with a blue hair band into a ponytail, which extended to her back with the layers in irregular looking patterns. Her almond shaped chocolate brown eyes were almost covered by her messy fringe and she had a rather pale skin tone. Her eyebrows were thin and slightly curved, her nose small and upturned, and her smile was highlighted by her pale red lips.

She wore a forest green long-sleeved shirt underneath a white lab coat flowing to the back of her knees. An infinity insignia was embroidered on the pocket in dark blue thread. A navy pleated colored skirt that extends to above her knees was secured by a black belt with a silver buckle in the shape of a question mark. White lace up sneakers as well as striped blue and green ankle socks adorned her feet. She also wore a small digital watch on her left wrist, a pair of blue latex gloves resting in her lab coat pocket, a brown compartmentalised satchel bag around her body, and a pair of science goggles on her head to complete her scientific look.

"O-Oh, i-it's not w-what it looks l-like," I blushed, trying to explain my situation, "My sister is inside, I-I'm just waiting on her."

The girl observed me, with a raised eyebrow, before coming to her conclusion

"Oh, I see, that's really sweet of you," she chuckled a bit, "Are you by chance here for the RR project as well?"

"Yes I am," I calmed down and dusted off my jacket, "I think you are too?"

"Does salt have sodium in it?" she smiled and asked me.

"Yes," I said, unsure of what she meant.

"Correct! It's very nice to meet you, I'm Aki Sasaki, the Ultimate Research Scientist," she extended a hand to me, "I hope we can become good friends!"

 **AKI SASAKI - ULTIMATE RESEARCH SCIENTIST**

Well that's sudden. Aki seemed like a very friendly girl just from her smile. She seemed like a total science geek from her appearance alone, but her talent really solidified her status. Why would she want to remove a talent as interesting and cool as that?

"So, is your sister still inside the bathroom?" she asked, "Does she need any assistance?"

"Yes, she takes a while is all," I explained, "She has trouble sometimes so she takes things a bit carefully when she's by herself."

"Oh, ok," she put her finger to her lips and looked at the bathroom, "So which one of you is the older sibling?"

"I am actually," I pointed out, "My sister and I are twins but I'm older by a few minutes."

"Ooh that's really cool, you two have such an ionic bond!" she jokingly giggled.

Oh god the puns….no please. Get them away from me like the plague. However, that one is pretty cute, despite how cringy it was.

"I guess you can say that," I chuckled, trying not to offend her.

"I also have a twin, a twin brother, but he isn't an Ultimate," she explained, sounding a bit despondent in her tone, "But anyway, after this program, I will be normal and free again, just like him!"

Her sudden shift in tone kind of made me worry a bit. It's cool she had a twin sibling like me, but I just met this girl, so I best be cautious. For all I know, her friendly approach could be a front, but maybe that's just my paranoia talking.

"Well, I have to go get something to eat. It was nice meeting you, Ekichirou," she nodded, "Say hi to your sister for me."

"Sure thing, same to you Aki," I nodded back to her in response.

She merrily skipped to the food court as Cherika exited the bathroom, looking at the girl prancing off.

"Who was that, Kichi?" she asked, wiping her hands on her sleeves to remove some leftover water.

"Oh, that's Aki," I replied casually, "She's a scientist and she joined the program as well."

"Ooh...that's really cool," Cherika remarked, "I wonder why she would want to get rid of that talent?"

"Not sure, I think for now we should go ahead and check out the other areas," I commented.

She nodded as we walked away from the bathroom area, perusing the carnival grounds and coming near the roller coaster's entrance, taking in how huge it all was when we got a closer look at it.

The entire thing looked as if it touched the sky itself with how tall it was. The tracks were made of old wood, the bars had rusty steel and were painted a red color, some areas had chipped dark paint while the beams holding this monster of a ride in place seemed unsturdy and in need of proper maintenance, and the coaster cars seemed to be missing one seat as it now had only four that could seat eight people in total.

"I've never ever been on a roller coaster before," Cherika stared at the ride in awe, "It looks dangerous…"

"I've never been on one either, but it looks fun," I gazed at the ride, "Maybe as a bucket list kind of occasion, I might go on one."

As we continued looking at the large ride, we noticed a shadow looming over us, as if a figure had suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

"Hey look up there…" Cherika pointed to the top of the rollercoaster, "What is t-that?"

"I'm not sure..." I wondered, trying to see the figure, but the sun kept blinding my eye, "Is that..a person?"

"DAHAHAHAHAHA!" screamed a loud laugh coming from somewhere around us.

I was confused by where the noise came from as the shadowy figure jumped from the roller coaster's top, almost carefree as if they didn't understand the risks of their decision whatsoever.

"Are they jumping off!?" Cherika panicked, "Oh my g-gosh!"

"I don't know!?" I frantically worried, unsure of what to do, "It's too late to get a trampoline…"

But before any of us could react, the figure landed on a nearby tent booth's roof, jumped off that and landed on the ground, their fist hitting the ground upon landing, posed like some sort of superhero style entrance from a comic book.

"That was fun!" the figure exclaimed, who turned out to be a guy, who had landed on the ground and made a small dent in the rocky earth as it trembled, "I want to do it again!"

My sister and I were awestruck with the individual that was in front of us. His boisterous voice and very over the top entrance almost scared us, Cherika almost falling over from the impact of it all.

How to describe this person? He was a bit bizarre. He was about some inches shorter than me and my sister. His hair was a dark teal color, his skin was a tan olive color with a semblance of a sunburn mark on his upper face, his eyes were a golden yellow color, and it was hard to make out his body type but he looked a bit chubby. That, or he could be athletic and it was muscle, but I didn't want to point it out.

He wore a white shirt with sleeves dangling almost to his knees, with an oversized orange and dark brown striped thick sweater. He also wore oddly designed dark navy colored pants that seemed to be medium-length, ending near his shins, and his shoes were army leather boots that didn't look to be in his size.

And I thought the others' outfits were a bit much... This person's choice in fashion is...bewildering to say the least. I mean, I'm not a fashion aficionado myself, but I think he needs a bit of help or two in that department.

"Umm…" my sister and I said in unison, a bit too dumbfounded for words

"Ooh! New people! Hello!" the boy's yelling got somewhat louder, "I AM BANRI GINGKA!"

"Oh…" we said in unison once more.

"It's nice to meet you Banri…I'm Ekichirou and this is my sister Cherika," I calmed down and composed myself, "Are you here for the talent removal program as well?"

Banri's eyes lit up like sparkling gold, but his overall stance seemed very still and relaxed. It was a bit too calm if you ask me.

"Yes!" he chirped, "I want to change, it will make leader proud!"

"Leader?" Cherika wondered, as Banri eyed her curiously.

"Yes! Yes!" Banri playfully nodded up and down like a bobble head.

"So what's your talent Banri?" I asked, trying to change the topic.

"Talent?" he curiously said, "I don't remember!"

 **BANRI GINGKA - ULTIMATE ?**

"You don't know?" I asked, "Did you forget it or do you actually not remember?"

"Leader says not to talk about my talent!" he shouted, "It will make others worry he said!"

"Oh, ok…" we said in unison for the third time, officially weirded by his behavior.

We didn't know what to make of Banri and his very eccentric intro. I mean the fact he survived jumping off from the top of the roller coaster probably suggested that he wasn't scared of climbing stuff like that. Maybe some sort of athlete or stunt double? All I can say is that that landing was very impressive, almost gravity defying.

My sister and I stood there in awkward silence as Banri stared at us with a smile that looked very unnerving to witness, almost as if he was evaluating us. It was like he was sizing us up or something.

"I think we'll go someplace else," I said, taking Cherika's hand, "It was nice meeting you, Banri."

"Aww you're going already!" Banri pouted, "I wanted to do something fun!"

"Raincheck!" I replied swiftly, walking away at a brisk pace, "Maybe next time!"

"See you later B-Banri…" Cherika waved as I dragged her away.

"Bye bye! Dahahahaaha!" Banri laughed as he ran off at a very fast pace to somewhere else.

Cherika and I stopped near a bench, sat on a blue one, and calmed down from the running we just did. I didn't know what came over me at that moment, but I felt it was the best option at the time.

"Kichi, why do you keep doing that…" she murmured, breathing rapidly, "I know you care….b-but it's worrying me now."

"Sorry Cherry," I apologized, "I guess my inner older brother nature kicked in when meeting these people is all."

We both collectively caught our breaths, sitting down properly and staring at the carnival as the sand passed by. A tumbleweed could be seen passing through.

"I'm sorry you h-had to drag me along.." she mumbled, "You should have left me b-behind…."

I looked at her in the eye. Her face had a sad expression as if someone had just said something rude to her. Her body language was uneasy and her hands were shaking slightly.

"Don't say that!" I told her firmly, "You're my sister. If I didn't bring you along, then who knows what hell mom and dad would have put you through if I left you alone with them."

Cherika looked down at her feet, playing with her sleeves. She was a bit shocked from my sudden outburst.

"Cherry…" I looked at her, "I know you must be wary of all of this but….would you rather live through another year of abuse like that...with them treating you like you were nothing to them?"

"Can we not talk about m-mom and dad r-right now…" she sighed sadly. "I just want to get this over with….all this excitement is m-making me anxious."

"I promise you, everything will go according to plan," I reassured her, rubbing her back. "Let's just take a breather for a few minutes before exploring more of this place, I think we deserve a break for now."

"Alright…" she sleepily yawned, "I hope the orientation doesn't take too long…"

"It won't," I commented, "And if it is...let's just ditch it and see if we can play any of the carnival games in the meantime."

Cherika giggled, nodding her head softly as she rested her head on my lap. It seemed she was still exhausted from the long car ride over here and that coupled with having met about ten people so far in this abandoned amusement park must have truly tired her.

How long has it been..since the two of us felt at peace…I don't even want to look back at our lives thus far... all I can see now is the future.

However as soon as we could just sit down and relax, a loud crashing noise could be heard from nearby, as if something metal or heavy crashed down on earth.

"Agh!?" Cherika jumped, "What's that?"

"I'm n-not sure," I told her, "Let's go check it out…"

What was that noise I wondered, it didn't sound good. For now I think it's best to investigate and see if no one else is hurt. As soon as we got some peace, it all comes crashing down on us.

We both headed over to where the noise originated, unsure of what we were about to come across next. But one thing's for sure, this carnival still had more surprises in store for us, for better or for worse..….

* * *

 **To be continued…**

* * *

 **A/N** : Hello hello hello lovely people, I hope you all are doing well and are having a great weekend so far. I hope you all enjoyed the first part of the character intros, I tried my best to make the characters as interesting and dynamic as they are, so I hope these are ok. If I made any mistakes feel free to let me know as soon as possible so that I can fix it.

I had fun making these intros, maybe some more than others and once again thank you to all of the people who sent me their wonderful OCs for this story. Each one is very special and I really like this cast very much, maybe even more so than my other two stories casts XD. JK, I love all the OCs you have sent me and each one is like a little family to me...a dysfunctional one at that X3.

Seriously though, you all deserve gold medals for putting up with me and my overly ambitious nature in trying to manage three stories at the same time. I will mainly prioritize Hope's Lie and Salty Waves and Bloody Coral. But as of right now, I think I will get these character intros out of the way first, then focus my attention to the other stories. Consider those two on the backburner for right now, with planning the cases and all that, since they do take a while to make unless I have help. So yeah be on the lookout for those uploads as well.

Wow I didn't expect a lot of people to come to my defense in the reviews, thank you all so much, you didn't have to do that for me. It warms my heart to know that you all really do care about me and my stories, I really appreciate it you guys, thank you.

Once again, let me know your thoughts in the reviews or PM's what you think about the OC so far and who caught your interest the most out of the ten introduced here.

I love hearing your guy's theories on each character and how they will play out in the overall story. So theorize away! :3

But for now, have a nice day, night, holiday or whatever it is you celebrate, I will see you all next time whenever I decide to post the next upload. I promise to not post anymore SYOC until one out of the three of these are done, I'm not that mad XD.

Happy reading my fellow readers, authors, otakus and all the above and inbetween.

Bye bye!


	4. LR: Character Intros Part 2

**Editor: Crimson Spider Lily**

* * *

My sister and I rushed over to where we thought the loud noises came from and ended up encountering a very strange sight, maybe one of the creepiest and most disturbing things we've ever seen.

There was a large garish yellow building that seemed to take up some of the carnival space with how wide it was in terms of exterior appearances. The front entrance was shaped like a giant clown's mouth with the edges being a rusty, chipped red color resembling lips. The door seemed to be in the shape of one of the many teeth forming the clown's smile; some square-shaped and the rest sharp and toothy. The entrance lit up like a Christmas tree, with a myriad of colors such as bright reds, cool blues, zesty oranges, mild greens and smooth purples that blinked in a flashy manner. The clown's red eyes seemed to stare at us everytime we walked past them, as if a spirit had possessed it and was waiting for the right time to strike us when we weren't looking. The pasty white face and dripping black smile running down the clown's pointed chin only seemed to heighten our anxiety even more.

Upon further inspection, a laughing noise could be heard from inside the building itself, almost as if someone was mocking us, obscured from view or in the shadows. The building itself sported rainbow polka dots spread throughout the tacky design, only adding to my ensuing headache, simply from observing it a few meters away.

"Is that a funhouse?" I thought to myself, a bit perturbed by the clown's face and bare-toothed, evil grin, "I never knew a wacky and jovial place such as this could look so ominous and foreboding."

"I-It's kind of creepy…" Cherika mumbled, sticking close to me, "I d-don't want to go in there…"

Cherika clung to me like a sloth to a tree branch, her grip not letting go of my jacket. Her body trembled and her lips moved, trailing behind me as we walked to where we thought the noise originated from.

"Hahahaha, what a fucking loser!" said a voice coming from nearby the funhouse, laughing hysterically, "This is pure comedic gold!"

The voice sounded like a girl's voice, maybe a bit on the rougher side. We turned around a corner, witnessing a peculiar sight in front of us that left me baffled. There was a girl leaning up against the wall of the funhouse, her arms wrapped around herself and a smile plastered on her face as she clutched her chest, bursting out in a fit of uncontrollable laughter.

Her hair was red and wavy, reaching past her shoulders with some strands covering the left side of her face, resembling a velvet cape flowing in the wind. Her hair had some random streaks of green scattered throughout to contrast with the red hue; her nails were painted the same color as the highlights in her hair. Her skin was a fairly light complexion, almost bordering on pale. Her pale blue eyes complimented her pasty skin, accentuated with dark black eyeshadow and she had a very skinny body type with a decently sized chest, maybe a C cup but I'm not judging.

She sported a black leather jacket over a white shirt with a graphic design of an eggplant on the front, her blue jeans were tattered and ripped as if they survived going through a paper shredder, black boots were worn on her feet while black fingerless gloves covered her hands to match. As for accessories, she wore silver stud earrings in her ears and a chain necklace hung around her neck.

She looked very punk rock and somewhat gothic from the copious amounts of black clothing she wore. However this look screamed a more 'don't fuck with me' kind of vibe instead of 'leave me alone to die sad and miserable'.

"Can't even walk in that oversized tin can," she continued, spewing out even more chuckles, "What a joke!"

We kept a fair distance from the scene, noticing that she was snickering at an unusual sight. It appeared to be a suit of metal armor resting on the floor with it's arms and legs all spread out unevenly, almost as if it fell flat on its face and twisted some parts.

"I don't even want to know anymore…" I sighed, inevitably walking over there with a hesitant expression on my face, "Excuse me, are you here for the Reverse Revival Project as well?"

The girl stopped her fit of laughter, stared at us and snorted. She looked up and down at the two of us, as if she was scoping out her competition or sizing us up for something.

"What's it to you, leprechaun," she clicked her tongue, giving me a side-eyed look. Her good mood seemed to have vanished instantly, like a ghost in a darkly lit room.

"Umm..leprechaun?" I questioned, suddenly realizing that she was referring to my overly green attire, "Oh I see...it's just a washing machine mishap is all, hah..."

She didn't seem too amused with my lame excuse as she continued looking at us with contempt, as if we were infringing upon her free time or something.

"H-Hello…" Cherika mumbled as she meekly hid behind me, greeting the red headed girl, "N-Nice to m-meet you…"

"Whatever, you losers ruined the mood," she scoffed, "Just get out of my face already."

She's pleasantly charming isn't she? I guess I found Shannon a friend if that's the case. Then again, we just met this girl and she's already criticized my appearance and told us to go away without any provocation whatsoever. I can tell she's a real treat at parties.

"Can we at least get your name first?" I asked her calmly and politely, trying not to piss her off further, "It's going to be rather awkward if we call you 'that girl' instead."

"If I tell you, will you two get off my fucking dick and leave me alone?" she growled, glaring at the two of us, clearly we weren't welcome in her eyes.

I nodded in response, as Cherika hid behind me. Seeming bit scared by the girl's overly aggressive aura and nasty attitude towards strangers.

"Chihaya Sato….I'm known as the Ultimate Clown," she angrily muttered under her breath, "You better not fucking laugh!"

 **CHIHAYA SATO - ULTIMATE CLOWN**

"A clown…" I was a bit shocked by what she said her talent was, "Are you serious?"

"I'm sorry, do you have a problem with that, luck of the Irish?" she stared at me, shooting ice cold daggers piercing my skin; if looks could kill I'd be dead already.

"N-No just trying to be friendly is all," I remarked, trying to assuage her anger, "Nice to meet you, I'm Ekichirou and this is my sister, Cherika."

"Who cares...just leave me alone and never talk to me again, got it?" she demanded.

Chihaya is such a peach, isn't she? I can tell she's someone who would be good in a fight, but more so if she was on your side if anything. A hostile look was glued to her face, for a clown she's not that happy, no pun intended. My sister and I slowly backed away from her, forgetting that there was a suit of armor resting on the ground.

"Ahh!" Cherika tripped behind me on the suit of armor, "Not a-again…"

Chihaya noticed Cherika trip over and started stifling laughter, as it seemed the suit of armor moved for a split second, almost from the simple jostle.

"Oh crap!" I grabbed Cherika, pulling her to the side as the suit of armor stood up. It looked almost like a mountain as the dirty metal shone in the sunlight, reflecting into our eyes, almost blinding us.

"I-Is it p-p-possessed?!" Cherika panicked, cowering behind me, watching the suit of armor move around a bit, as if there was someone inside of it.

The armor rattled as it stood on its legs, almost as if a spirit had come to life inside of it. I have to admit it was a magnificent suit at that.

It was a normal metal suit of armor with a helmet, gloves and arm pieces; almost as if the suit itself made up its entire body. It had a left shoulder pauldron with a chest part that was wrapped in a blue cloth over the metal chestplate, which bore the insignia of a dragon on the front. What seemed to be metal legs turned out to be foot and knee pieces of armor. It sported a belt around its waist with what appeared to be a short sword sheath attached as well as another belt wrapped around it's back with a metal shield perched behind it.

It was kind of hard to tell, but it seemed there were some clothes underneath the armor, poking out in some of the seams.

"Is..someone inside of that armor?" I wondered nervously, a bit curious also, "Hello, are you alright?... Is s-someone in there?"

The suit of armor stood up tall, their arms posed on the side of their hips as they stood galiantly. It seemed there was someone inside of said armor and my response seems to have caught their attention.

"No need to worry," the person inside of the armor said, their voice slightly muffled, but I was able to make out their words, "I'm alright, no need to fret."

"Umm…" Cherika wondered, "What did it s-say?"

The suit of armor began taking off their helmet- let me rephrase that, tried to take off their helmet. It seemed the person inside had a bit of trouble getting it off, almost as if someone had stuck it down on their head or if it was too small for them.

"Confound this helmet!" the armor shouted, sounding like a man's voice, in a very majestic tone, "Wherefore is this not coming off!"

"Do you need any help with that?" I asked him, sweat dropping at the same time.

"No thank you, I can manage this," he told me, continuing to fumble with the helmet some more, before finally pulling it off of his head almost violently.

"There, that's better!" he sighed with relief, his face slightly red from the metal rubbing against his cheeks, "Finally I can breathe more easily."

As he rested the helmet in his arm, he looked at the two of us and smiled happily, almost as if he didn't care that he was resting on the ground just a few minutes ago. He seemed almost carefree from how he dusted off some dirt from his armor, but judging from his overall outfit, he must be some cosplayer or something.

He had short light brown hair that he brushed back and forth with his free hand. His skin was tanned almost as if he worked outdoors a lot while his dark green eyes gleamed like two emeralds sparkling in the sunlight. Despite his bulky looking armor, he seemed to be muscular, judging from his tall stature and his build, probably from wearing all that heavy armor all the time, as it must weigh him down a lot.

"Hello fellow classmates, I presume!" he remarked, smiling dumbly and rubbing the back of his head, "Mayhaps you two are here for the program that is about to congregate here in this abandoned carnival as well?"

I wasn't sure how to respond to his very verbose and strange vernacular; it was a mix of formal wordplay with a bit of an English accent mixed in, meaning he must have been a foreigner. I wasn't sure if he was in the right place, but this is a carnival, so anything goes I suppose.

"It's nice to meet you…" I responded with a small delay, a bit taken aback by his weird way of speaking, "I'm Ekichirou Yoshirenku and this is my sister Cherika."

The knightly man bent down on one knee as he put his hand on his heart and greeted us. I sweatdropped some more at how into this knightly act he seemed to be in, but to each their own I suppose. At least he's going all out with this.

"Greetings sir Ekichirou and lady Cherika," the knight looked at us with a determined look on his face, "Fear not, for I, Sir Christopher O'Donnell, The Ultimate Knight, will not let ill omen come to your persons, I swear to you on my honor as a knight!"

A knight...well that's something you don't see everyday. I have to say, if this is how all knights acted, then I wonder if there are any dragons around for him to start fighting.

"K-Knight?" Cherika mumbled, standing up from behind me, "T-That's...so cool…"

"Well my fair lady…" he blushed slightly, emitting a nervous laugh, "I'm actually called the Ultimate Tragic Knight…"

 **CHRISTOPHER O'DONNELL - ULTIMATE TRAGIC KNIGHT**

"Tragic knight?" I raised an eyebrow, "So…..how is that different from being a regular knight, Chris?"

"Mind thee, I'm still a knight good sir," he rose up from his kneeling position, "It is my sworn duty to protect and serve, that is why I was knighted by the Queen herself."

Despite his interesting way of expressing his accomplishment, I still had no idea what he was talking about.

"T-Tragic?" Cherika wondered, "W-What's that?"

Chris seemed to be a bit shaken up by the sudden question. I mean, he comes in wearing a suit of armor, has this very odd way of speaking and calls himself a 'tragic knight'. Nashi was one thing, but Chris is something else.

"I can see how you m-might be curious, l-lady Cherika," he stuttered a bit, trying to find the right words to say, "Although I am indeed a knight, tragedy seems to follow me around like a fiendish shadow lurking in the night, waiting for me."

Ok that didn't answer the question whatsoever, but I shouldn't really delve too deep into it. We continued stumbling upon new people with even weirder quirks by the minute, almost as if this program chose these specific people to help remove their talents. But I will say the diverse and motley personalities never cease to amaze me; I can tell this program put forth a lot of time and money into acquiring these people.

"Blah blah blah," mocked Chihaya, walking up from behind from Chris and mouthing off, "Who the hell actually cares, you massive nerd."

"G-Good lady Chihaya," Chris quivered a bit, "Your words cut deeper than daggers upon my soul."

"Whatever floats your boat, dork," she mumbled, rolling her eyes, clearly annoyed with him.

She walked off without saying goodbye, her grumpy attitude only increasing by the minute, as she left my sister and I with the knight.

"Well it was nice meeting you, Chris," I took Cherika's hand and started to walk off as well, "We'll see you later, I suppose."

"Fare thee well you two," he waved back at us, his armor clanking as he walked to a nearby stall, "Now where was I…"

We sauntered away from the funhouse at a brisk pace, wanting to avoid passing by the creepy clown face that seemed to be watching us.

"K-Kichi what are you d-doing?" Cherika asked worriedly, as I dragged her away like a child wanting to go to a toy store, "I told you to stop doing that…"

"Sorry sis…" I apologized, letting go of her hand as we stopped near a large tent, "But those two are a bit….strange to say the least."

Cherika tilted her head, a droopy disappointed look was plastered on her face. She rubbed her hand from me pulling on it too much.

"Chihaya was...a b-bit mean…." she played with the sleeves on her coat, "But Chris….he's a little weird…but he doesn't s-seem that b-bad..he was n-nice..."

I mean she's sort of right, but you can never be too careful around these types of people. I mean, for all we know, they could be dangerous or could be hiding their true intentions. Call me paranoid, but I've seen a lot of TV dramas: the people most likely to betray you, are the ones who put on a nice smile and act all friendly and carefree around you, trying to earn your trust. So who knows who we might meet next.

"Do you hear t-that?" Cherika asked, poking her head out, "Do you hear a p-pinging noise…?"

I turned around and started hearing the noise as well, this time it seemed to get a bit louder, almost robotic in nature. We walked around the tent and headed to the front, noticing a sign on the top, shining in bright neon colors reading 'ARCADE'.

"Oh there's an arcade here too?" I noticed, "And it's still in working order? Awesome!"

"T-That's weird…" Cherika mumbled, her body trembling slightly, "Is s-someone inside?"

I shrugged my shoulders, walking inside the large red and white tent, pushing aside the curtain entrance and was immediately bombarded with a display of bright flashing colors.

"Agh! Gosh darn it, and I thought the funhouse was bad," I rubbed my eyes, adjusting to the seizure-inducing lighting, "This place is huge!"

The arcade itself was very kaleidoscopic in terms of decor. The lights ranged from a fluorescent blue shade that almost made me feel sick upon entering. There were rainbow party strobe lights scattered around, making the place look like some high school party you'd throw when your parents weren't home. A lot of arcade games were scattered around the tent, each one from a different genre. There were first person shooters with handheld gun controllers for games such as 'Answer To Action', 'Undead Risen', 'Extermination' and a bunch of other game titles I wasn't familiar with. I saw a wide variety of crane machines lined up next to each other; some prizes included rolled up T-shirts from comic books, video games and TV shows, stuffed plush animals, expensive looking watches with geeky designs on the insides of each one, wireless headphones still in boxes, phones and even cheap prizes like wristbands, rubber toys and bouncy balls.

Walking further into the arcade, we came across some more machines: racing games such 'Want For Nitro', 'Farzi' and even a game for the old movie franchise 'Accelerated And Angry', some fighting video games as well such as 'Tokken', 'Road Brawler' and one of my favorites, 'Melee'. Further adding entertainment to the tent were two pool hockey tables, a basketball hoops game, a 'Galactic Interlopers' game, three 'Rave Rave Domination' dancing games and finally there was a prize booth in the left corner of the tent near the entrance for people to purchase prizes that were lined up on the shelves with the number of tickets required to get each one taped onto them.

"This place looks so cool!" I gazed at all that it had to offer, like a child in a candy store eyeing the sweets he was about to eat, "I wish I'd come here first."

"L-Look over there Kichi…" Cherika pointed to an RRD machine where the pinging noise was coming from, "The n-noise…"

"Is someone playing it right now?" I thought, as I decided to check it out, "I wonder if there are people in here as well?"

I walked further into the dazzlingly flashy arcade and came across an interesting sight, this time seeming normal compared to the other things we've seen so far in this abandoned carnival. Despite the obnoxious choice of lighting, I could see two people by the RRD machine; it appeared the two of them were dancing along to the music of an obscure song which name I didn't know.

Their dancing was mesmerizing, almost hypnotic in a sense. It was as if their rhythmic movements were a snake charmer, alluring me closer and closer to them. I stood nearby, leaning against a crane machine to witness them dancing their hearts out to the upbeat pop music.

"Can you keep up?!" one of the dancers, a girl, remarked. A few sweat droplets flicked onto the ground as her feet moved around rapidly to match the prompts on screen, "You losing your game?"

"In your dreams, girlfriend," the person next to her, a guy with a somewhat sarcastic tone replied. He, in contrast, didn't seem to be breaking a sweat at all, "I can do this all day!"

From their vivacious movements, I could tell the two of them had had some sort of experience playing this game or at the very least were professional dancers. I was too busy being entranced by their fluid movements to care, as none of them stopped moving, with the girl starting to slow down her pace a little.

"EXCELLENT! You're a superstar!" shouted the RRD machine, "Player 2 wins!"

The two of them stepped off the sides of the machine, the guy adjusting his clothing and the girl trying to catch her breath as she leaned against the railing near the machine.

"Hah, told you I would win," the guy smirked proudly, "No one can beat me at this game, it's one of my favorites!"

"Not bad…." the girl panted from all the jumping around, "You're better than….I thought you'd...be."

As the two of them conversed back and forth, the guy smiling at his victory and the girl trying to speak less infrequently. I stretched out loud as Cherika stumbled forward and tripped on a crane machine plug cord on the floor.

"Aah!" she yelped, landing on her butt again, "Owie… why does this k-keep happening.."

It seemed her cry alerted the two of them. Before I could act myself, the guy rushed to my sister's aide almost immediately, helping her up as the girl, resting on the railing, dusted off her clothes from all that arduous dancing.

"Woah, are you alright?" he asked her, helping her up, "You took a nasty fall there, sweetie."

"S-S-Sweetie?!" Cherika blushed nervously as she got to her feet, "I-I'm fine...t-thanks.."

The guy chuckled as the girl from before tapped me on the shoulder, wiping some sweat from her forehead with her left arm as she looked at the scene behind me.

"Is she good?" she asked with an confused expression on her face, "That fall didn't seem fun at all."

"Y-Yeah.." I snapped back to reality quickly, "It's nothing, this usually happens."

"Oh...ok then," the girl raised an eyebrow at my claim, "Well no harm no foul, buddy!"

I got a good look at her appearance as she began stretching her limbs some more, yawning sleepily from moving too much.

Her straight long, dark chocolate brown hair was pushed back, ending near her waist and trailed behind her as she walked while her side-swept bangs were pushed to the left side. Her grey-green eyes were a bit swampy-looking and her eyebrows were sharp and thin, colored similarly to her hair. Her skin was a fair peachy tone and she had an average build that was skinny but not noticeable with a normal sized chest as well.

She wore a navy blue crimson jersey with a group, named 'Floodgates', logo on its front as well as a light grey long sleeved undershirt while a white hoodie was tied around her waist, like a makeshift belt of sorts. She wore black compression gloves on both of hands that ended at her fingers, lored jeans with olive colored running shoes. A pair of earbuds hung around her neck; one in her left ear and the other wrapped around her neck like a necklace. She had a black facemask resting around her neck as well, probably some fashion choice, I don't know.

She looked very tomboyish from her outfit alone. And judging from her very chill nature, she seemed like an alright person so far. But as usual, I just met her, so no need to jump to conclusions.

"Oh yeah I forgot to introduce myself, my bad, dude," she pushed some hair back from her shoulders, "Name's Ayano Akatsuka, though you can call me Seagull, most people do. I'm the Ultimate eSports Pro, nice to meet you!"

 **AYANO AKATSUKA - ULTIMATE eSPORTS PRO**

eSports Pro? Oh, she's one of those professional gamers! That's so cool, she gets to play video games for a living, I'm lucky, but not that lucky.

"Wow you have such a cool talent, Ayano!" I beamed with interest.

"Heh, you think so?" she chuckled, "It's not as fun as it's made out to be when it comes to training, but I guess the media likes to portray most of us as wasting our lives."

"And that's why I don't listen to the mainstream media," I gestured a chuckle, "If only they knew how much money the gaming industry actually makes, then they'd shut up."

"You said it," Ayano smiled happily, raising her hand up as I high fived it in response, "Nice one!"

Ayano seems like an alright person, she seems to be cool with all of this, so I guess I shouldn't be too worried around her. It's nice to meet some normal people here for once.

"It's nice to meet you, Ayano," I greeted her, "I'm Ekichirou Yoshirenku, Ultimate Lucky Student and that's my sister, Cherika, Ultimate Unlucky Student."

"Lucky student?...Unlucky Student?" she questioned, scratching her head in bewilderment, "That's a bit weird, I've never heard of those talents before."

"O-Oh...yeah about that…" I looked away a bit embarrassed, "I'll tell you later.."

"No problem," she patted me on the back, "But I think you better attend to your sister before flirty pants over there can get to her."

I turned around to see Cherika blushing intensely as the man dancing with Ayano smiled, he seemed to be teasing her or something, making her weak at the knees as they say.

"Excuse me, what are you doing with my sister?" I stepped in front of them, almost sounding a bit coarse, "There better not be any funny business here."

"Heyyy pal! Just having a nice friendly conversation, that's all, no need to get your panties in a twist," he giggled, greeting me in a very casual tone, "Your sister already told me your name, so I might as well do the same."

"Are you talking to me?" I asked him.

He shrugged his arms, sighing in response, wearing a sarcastic smile on his face as he winked at my sister. It was like he was signalling something to her, or maybe I'm just overthinking it. Cherika didn't know what to say as she continued playing with her hair and mumbling to herself.

"Yeah I'm talking to you~ pretty boy," he giggled mischievously, "Who else would I be talking to, a brick wall?"

His playful attitude came across a bit obnoxious to say the least. The way he spoke sounded so cheesy but in a very smooth way, as if he loved talking a lot and hearing his own voice, like a parrot who wouldn't stop reiterating your words.

"P-Pretty boy?!" I blushed in response, a bit flustered, "O-Oh….right."

"You're so cute," he giggled playfully, "Yep, you two are definitely twins!"

After coming to my senses, I decided to get a better look at his appearance. It's no surprise his appearance and outfit matched his almost flirtatious nature.

His thick auburn hair shone and glistened as it ended near the middle of his neck while his wide bright mint green eyes almost dazzled in this arcade lighting. His complexion was tan and he was lean, a bit fit but not that noticeable upfront. His skin was soft and it appeared that he wore makeup on his face, as his nails were painted in very garish colors like magenta, light blue, red, green with random designs on each nail, such as rainbows, hearts, flowers, cat faces and dog faces.

He wore a yellow shirt with white polka dots over the design, with the collar unbuttoned to almost reveal his chest. A dark pink jacket that seemingly wanted to run away from his shoulders with the way they looked, hanging from his elbows. Adding to his outfit were red plaid pants as well as yellow and pink high top sneakers. His accessories consisted of a three dog tag choker-like necklace around his neck, very colorful feather clips in his hair as well as a few shimmery rainbow bracelets on both of his wrists. He also wore few rings; one on his right index finger, one on his left middle finger and one more on his left thumb.

Not only was his demeanor very over the top and in your face, but his attire matched him to a T, almost as if it were tailor made for him. It was very poppy and exuberant; he's definitely someone who would stick out in a crowd of people, not that he would mind the attention one bit.

"Anyways, name's Hibiki Miyamoto, Ultimate J-pop Idol," he waved to me, "I know I know, I look amazing, I see you staring at me~"

 **HIBIKI MIYAMOTO - ULTIMATE J-POP IDOL**

I have to say I didn't expect a guy as eccentric as him to be a J-Pop Idol- no, scratch that, I should have expected it. It explains how he's able to outdance Ayano so easily; he must have had a lot of dance lessons and training in order to pull off such fantastic moves. I heard idols like him train almost every day, so props to him.

"It's nice to meet you Hibiki.." I extended my hand out for a shake, "Thanks for helping my sister up, I appreciate it, man."

"No problem," he winked at me, "I assume you two are here for the program as well?"

"Yes," I answered him briefly, "I never expected a person like yourself to want to join this program, given how much luxuries are at your disposal, why'd you join?"

Hibiki looked at his colorfully designed nails and sighed; it seemed he didn't want to discuss his reasons either. His playful nature seemed to have diminished after I asked him that question.

"You'd never understand anyway," he mumbled, sighing despondently, "Being myself in my position isn't all sunshine and rainbows like the media would portray it to be."

"I bet," I chuckled at his wry comment, poking fun at the media, "Sorry for asking, I didn't mean to overstep my boundaries."

"Nah, it's fine," he brushed it off, as he adjusted his jacket, "I get that a lot, especially from my fangirls. Oi vey they would not stop hassling me, heh."

"Welp," I patted his back, "What can you do."

I comforted Hibiki, as I noticed Cherika talking with Ayano by the RRD machine. It seemed Cherry was interested in what she was talking about, from the small smile forming on her face. I mean the both of us like video games, and with her being a gaming pro, it's no surprise the two of them were able to get along so quickly. If she's happy, I'm happy.

"Oh sweet! you like Melee too, Cherry!" Ayano chirped up, pumping her fists up, "That's awesome!"

"T-Thanks…" Cherika looked to the side, playing with her messy hair, "It's just so a-addictive…I've logged in lots of h-hours into that game.."

"If you want I could also teach you some sweet cheat codes as well, to get all the unlockable characters and custom outfits in one go?" Ayano beamed with excitement.

"O-Oh...that sounds f-fun...thanks A-Ayano.." Cherika mumbled back, shaking less than before.

I couldn't help but form a small smile on my face, seeing Cherika so happy to be around other people in general. Sure, she may not be the most social person out there, but it's moments like these that almost make me proud as a big brother….gosh I'm getting too sentimental now. I'm just happy she was able to make a friend in this place already.

"Well, I'll see you two later, peace out!" Ayano waved to us, approaching Hibiki, "Want to have another round at it, Mr. Idol?"

"Sure," Hibiki smirked, "I can't pass up a chance to win once again."

"In your dreams, princess," Ayano smugly smiled, "I'm gonna end your winning streak this time!"

The two of them continued to exchange witty banter while walking back to the RRD machine, as I went over to check on Cherika, to make sure she was alright.

"You ok, Cherry?" I asked her, rubbing her shoulders, "You didn't hurt yourself anywhere?"

"Yeah...j-just fine.." she nodded, nervously smiling at me, "Ayano is s-so cool….she t-taught me new gaming t-tips..and m-more.."

"That's good to hear," I smiled back, "Well come on, let's get out of this disco nightmare of an arcade, I'm getting a headache."

"Same h-here…" she rubbed her eyes, yawning a bit, "I'm feeling a bit s-sleepy from all the dark lights…"

The two of us left the arcade, the harsh sunlight entering our eyes as it seemed to be dying down a bit from the way it loomed behind a mountain. I don't think we spent too much time in there, so I'm guessing it was around the afternoon time for us, wherever we were.

"I wonder what else this carnival has in store for us?" I pondered, walking around, Cherika following closely behind me, "Let's go see a few more attractions, then we can go find somewhere to rest."

"O-Okay.." Cherika yawned again, stretching her arms out wide.

We both walked around the carnival some more, hoping to find more signs of life. From what I can tell, there must be more people here since we've yet to fully explore it, but I have a feeling it's just going to get weirder as we go along.

"This must be fate!" shouted a voice coming from nearby, "The wheels of destiny have spun in favor of this inevitable meeting!"

"Not you again…" moaned an annoyed voice, "What crappy luck…"

We stopped, hearing the voices close by and wondering if these were people we hadn't met yet.

"I wonder what's happening," I thought, "Let's go sis."

"O-Okay…" she nodded, walking behind me.

We followed the source of the voices and came across another large park attraction. It seemed to be some sort of waterpark themed area that also took up a large portion of the amusement park. It was a cool watery haven of purples, blues, greens, corals and other seaside colors, like a underwater paradise on land.

There were a lot of aquatic themed rides such as a slip and slide that stretched halfway across the waterpark with water gushing from the sides on yellow and white mats on the flat aquamarine rubbery surface. Adding to the attractions was a large wave pool with the water gushing onto the sandy ground surrounding the pool itself, a lazy river with orange life jackets and green inner tubes resting on the sides near the entrance, where the water moved for itself, a giant hot tub with bubbles forming inside of the steamy azure water, a giant log flume ride with two log cars that could seat about ten people in total and a small kiddie pool area. An aquatic park area with cartoon fishes and marine life painted onto the blue stone walls stood near a rope course running over the lazy river in which, if you fell through one of the giant holes, you'd get swept away by the water. Bumper boats as well with yellow boats were floating on still water while some moss was forming on the edges of the pool. Nearby was a large castle like structure filled with all sorts of water themed contraptions for younger children to play on.

However the main attraction of this grandiose water park were the giant water slides; there seemed to be about three of them in total. One of the rides was called 'Double Duo' where two people rested on one large raft and slid down the large purple tubes while the second one was called 'Single's Surf' where only one person went down the ride at a time and the final one was called 'Roaring Ravine' where it seemed to reach the sky itself with how high up it reached. The ride itself was on top of this wooden structure, which most likely had a large set of stairs you had to climb in order to reach the top.

"Wow, this place looks fun!" I commented, my eyes lighting up with excitement, "Needs a bit of maintenance and cleaning, but it looks great!"

"These places m-make me a bit queasy…" Cherika muttered, "I throw up easily on these rides…."

That's right...I usually have to stay by her side, since she tends to get a bit nervous around crowded areas like this. It sucks too, she always wanted to do things like this by herself, but the heights always freaked her out and she usually ended up having to go down the lazy river instead. And even that ride somehow made her stomach upset. I don't even know how she threw up on it, but what can you do?

"You cannot deny it," said a female voice with a hint of a German accent, "Kukuku~ We are ever tied by the same string of justice, forever to be rivals till the day we die."

"And this is why I wanted to remove my talent…" the annoyed voice, belonging to a male remarked, "You're one of the reasons."

It seemed the two voices had some sort of history based on how comfortable they sounded speaking to each other. However, it sounded like a mix of professional and casual talk.

I headed to the source of the voices and saw two people standing next to a male and female changing room section.

The two people, a boy and a girl, were looking at each other with looks of both irritation and surprise. However, between the two of them, the girl is the one who caught my attention first due to how she presented herself and her eye-catching choices in attire.

She was tall in appearance, maybe an inch taller than me. She was lean but looked like she was a bit athletic with an average sized chest, which was hard to tell based from her clothing which covered up most of her body. Her white complexion complimented her semi long wheat gold hair that reached her mid waist in a braided ponytail while her round face highlighted her sharp facial features. She didn't seem to be wearing any makeup, showing off her natural beauty.

However the most noteworthy part of her appearance were her eyes; her right eye was a bright icy grey-blue color, like a glacier, and her left one was a deep greenish hazel. like tree bark.

Her attire was nothing if not regal in nature, it's as if she was a descendant of royalty or something ripped straight from a fantasy story or fairytale.

She wore a fancy royal blue suit and a magician's tunic-like top, with whitish silvery designs at the ends of her sleeves and near the bottom of the shirt, going downward and covering a small portion of the upper half of her legs. The shirt was adorned with silver buttons buttoned all the way with pockets on the lower sides of it, from where a gold chain was hanging. There was a large bluish-purple colored, triangle-shaped Tanzanite gemstone in the middle of her collar, instead of a button. She wore a pair of dark blue pants, elegant black gloves on her hands and shiny black boots on her feet.

If that wasn't enough, she also wore a long flowing black cape behind her, in the middle of which was a sewn in crest; bordered by silvery edges, the background was a dark royal purple color and in the center there were two figures present, one being a long maroon colored dragon holding a harp in one scaly claw and a sword in the other one, while the other figure was a blue colored tiger with a flaming torch in its mouth. The beasts were linked together in unison by a chain around both of their necks in a way similar to Siamese twins, which made them appear almost bound together. The cape was pinned around her neck by what appears to be a badge of sorts.

I have to say this girl certainly knew how to accessorize and dress, which would put Shannon to shame. Her look screamed fancy and too expensive for normal people like us to afford, but all the power to her I suppose.

Meanwhile the clearly disinterested guy right next to her, who she seemed to be monologuing to, was more than happy to leave the conversation at a short moment's notice.

He was fairly tall but maybe around my height while his build was slim and skinny with not much muscle mass to his frame nor was he scrawny. His face was short with a square jawline and I could see some dimples on his face. His forest green hair was cut short and was neatly slicked back with gel, his eyes were a few shades darker than his hair color. His complexion was tan, almost as if he tanned regularly. In terms of looks he wasn't a bad-looking person nor could he be described as handsome.

Unlike the girl next to him, his attire was simple and a bit more business casual if anything. He wore a blue green silk shirt with the collar button undone, tan dress pants with a black leather belt and polished black dress shoes. Completing his outfit were a silver wristwatch on his right wrist and a silver necklace with a medallion of a patron saint like pendant around his neck, but it was hard to see from afar.

These two looked as if they worked in white collar tier jobs, judging from their overall clothing and appearance. An aura of formality emanated from the two of them, almost as if, if you got too close to either one of them, the aura might dissipate and fade away from us normies stinking it up or something.

"Well no matter, the blade of truth will see that we both strive for excellence in this due process of removing our bestowed talents," the regal girl spouted, almost in a very over the top manner.

"Do you always have to talk like that?" the snazzily dressed guy retorted, "Makes me wonder how you even got to where you are in the first place..."

Admittedly I didn't want to interrupt these two's conversation, not wanting to get tangled up in some drama that would only lead to more confusion and hostility like with Itsuki and Shannon. However, we were too late to leave as the girl noticed us and walked over, her cape flowing behind her elegantly and majestically as if there was a wind machine following her.

"Good day, fellow citizens," the girl spoke, "It seems that we are not the only ones here to receive the blessing of the god of normalcy."

"Umm…" Cherika mumbled, tilting her head in confusion, "What?"

"Oh? Are you not here to join in the ritual of talent removal?" she raised an eyebrow, possibly not expecting that answer, "Are you perhaps lost?"

I was just as speechless as she was, but I didn't want to leave a bad first impression, so I cleared my throat and stepped into the mix.

"Pardon me, but can you rephrase that please?" I asked in a polite manner as to not upset her, "We don't quite understand what you're saying.."

"You'll get used to it," the snazzily dressed guy interjected, walking to the regal girl's side, "She talks like this a lot, it'll never grow on you."

From his overall tone, it seemed he knew her from before this meeting had occurred, were they perhaps associates or partners? Maybe coworkers who didn't quite see eye-to-eye?

"Forgive me for asking," I added, still trying to wrap my head around what she just said, "But are you two perhaps partners or something?"

"Partners! Hah!" the guy laughed, almost as if I made a tasteless joke, "I'd certainly hope not, I would go nuts after the first day."

"Come now, King Of Liars," the girl snapped back, "Must you taint their ears with such cruel words regarding your adversary?"

"I was just warning them is all, Queen of Crazy," he smugly smiled back, "Your noble nature can be a bit...much."

"W-Who are you t-two?" Cherika asked anxiously as the two of them looked at her quivering behind me.

"Aha yes! How callous of me not to introduce myself," she cleared her throat as her cape flowed behind her, "I shall enlighten you both, remember this name well! I am Galiana Al Earnestine, and I am known throughout the world as The Silver Dragon Prosecutor!"

I stood there, dumbfounded by her grandiose intro, not sure who she was or why she talked like that. That is until the guy stepped in, sighing ashamedly.

"She's the Ultimate Prosecutor," he bluntly said, the girl clearly frustrated that he ruined her spectacular intro, "Nothing special."

 **GALIANA AL EARNESTINE - ULTIMATE PROSECUTOR**

Ok now that makes more sense. I knew she must have been in some high paying profession, but a prosecutor who acts like that...that's quite intriguing indeed, you don't come across people like her all that much. Although she does remind me of this one prosecutor in a game that I love to play. Can't quite put my finger on it though.

"Oh….ok, it's nice to meet you Galiana," I nodded accordingly, "And you are?"

The guy adjusted his collar and looked at us with a confident-looking smile. It seemed he was relieved to be around people who didn't speak and act like her.

"Name's Daiko Hakazi. Ultimate Defense Attorney, at your service," he extended his hand out for a shake.

 **DAIKO HAKAZI - ULTIMATE DEFENSE ATTORNEY**

"It's nice to meet the both of you," I composed myself, shaking Daiko's hand in return,"I'm Ekichirou Yoshirenku and this is my twin sister Cherika behind me."

Cherika stood up properly, pushing back her messy hair and making an awkward smile at the two of them, "H-Hello…"

"So I see you two are here for the project as well?" I wondered, not sure if they were genuine about it.

"Yes we are," Galiana chimed in, "For the life of a prosecutor such as I, it's more than stressful, it's almost a burden on my shoulders."

"It's just a coincidence that the two of us both ended up in the same place, at the same time," Daiko added, "We both work in the same field but on the opposite sides of the court."

Well that's interesting to note, so it seems the two of them do work together but are more so rivals, in a sense. Figures, I can't quite see the two of them getting along that much if that would be the case.

"Oh, that's neat," I mused, stifling some laughter "You two actually remind me of these characters from a video game I love, what was the name of it...A-"

"Alas, my image will soon change," Galiana interrupted me, "I wish you both the same luck in acquiring fresh new lives as well."

"Umm...thanks, I guess," I responded, standing there, still unsure of what she meant as Daiko rubbed his temples.

"Remind me to find a new job that's as far away from you as possible.." he mumbled.

The mood of the room got a bit awkward, as the lawyers both exchanged looks of reluctant willingness to cooperate with each other.

"Well, we're just checking out the carnival at the moment," I told them, "I think we'll catch up with you two later."

"See ya!" Daiko waved as Galiana pulled him by his collar and dragged him somewhere, "Ouch! Stop doing that please, this is my favorite shirt!"

"Hush, let us further discuss what to do for our lives after this program," Galiana pulled him away, "Farewell you two."

We left the duo to discuss whatever it was that they were going to discuss. Poor Daiko, he must not really have a good relationship with Galiana if that's how he reacts to her bringing him back into the fold.

"T-They were...odd.." Cherika looked back at the two arguing once more.

"Sure were…" I sighed deeply as we both left the waterpark area.

As we both left the lively waterpark, we came across what seemed to be a tranquil flower garden area filled with vibrantly colored flowers of every species. There were crimson blood red roses, sunshine yellow sunflowers, orange daffodils, angel white tulips, purple violets, cool blue bells, pink hydrangeas and even black bleeding hearts.

"Wow….these f-flowers are really pretty.." Cherika stood in awe at how magnificent each flower was, kneeling down to admire the flowers closer.

"Be careful of bees, Cherry," I reminded her, "They're everywhere, especially this season."

"Ok…" she nodded, gazing at the roses, as the sickly sweet scent entered her nose, "Ooh…"

She sat down criss-cross and admired the rainbow floral display in front of her. I stretched some more, yawning loudly from all the excitement wearing me down and looked up at the sunset sky.

"If only this place could have even more beautiful treasures such as this," I pondered, "I wonder why Mr. Yanagi chose this place to hold the project?...Aah who cares."

I felt like I could get lost here, the fragrant aroma of flowers permeated the air with a sense of warmth and comfort you'd feel from fabric softeners washed on clothes and combined with the heat straight from the dryer. I didn't want this succinct tranquility to fade….

"Kichi..d-do you smell s-something burning?' Cherika mumbled, her face changed to worry, "I-Is it smoke!?"

As soon as she said that, I was alerted of the smell as well. It seemed there were smoke trails coming from the distance off to the far left side of the flower field.

"Oh shit!" I headed over there to see what the fuss was about, "Cherry, stay behind me!"

"O-Okay!" she said, slowly following behind me and cowering like a scared puppy.

As we followed where the smoke originated from, we saw some daffodils and daisies being set ablaze. A small fire scattered throughout the flower glades, huge orange and yellow embers dancing around the field like demonic dancers singing a deathly song.

"Wow, I didn't expect something as dynamic as this!" said a voice further inside the fields, "AMAZING!"

I followed the source of the voice and saw what appeared to be a girl, standing above the cinders and ashes of burnt flower petals and weeds, mesmerized by the blazing fire in front of her. She laughed mischievously and revelled in the flames, spinning around as smoke fumes filled the air, darkening the warm sky with a black cloud.

Without hesitation, I ran over to the nearest faucet tap, found a steel bucket nearby, filled it with running cold water and carried the bucket with me near the girls and the flames.

"Duck!" I shouted, splashing water over the fire, dousing them out immediately.

"Hey!" the girl yelled back, "What are you doing!?"

After the flames fizzled out, I noticed some of the flowers were burnt to a crisp, some black cinders even spreading to untouched flowers like thrown away candy wrappers in the wind, ruining the once radiant gardens' splendor.

"Phew...that was a close one…" I wiped some sweat from my forehead, "Good thing that I took that fire training course.."

"I-Is it...over?" Cherika mumbled, coughing from the smoke fumes.

"I hope so…" I sighed, dropping the bucket to the ground.

Then as some of the smoke cleared, the girl from earlier, stomped her feet and walked up to me, angrily gritting her teeth.

"Why did you do that for!" she pouted, "I WAS HAVING SO MUCH FUN!"

Despite the smoke fogging up the flower glades, I was able to make out her appearance, her overall expression heated and her face red with fury, no pun intended.

She was very small, shorter than me, her petite frame and pale skin making her look almost cute in appearance. Her short tangerine hair matched the flames she gazed at and was cut short to look similar to a boy's hairstyle while her round baby blue eyes cemented her childlike appearance and she was very slender like most girls. Her overall frame looked unhealthy with some veins sticking out from her arms and legs from what I could see; almost bony in fact. Her neatly trimmed eyebrows and three-freckled cheeks stood out in contrast to her extremely pale skin and her teeth were a slightly yellow color, as if she didn't brush them whatsoever.

She wore a black sleeveless hoodie with a fire image emerging from the lower part and stopping below her chest. I could see a long sleeved black shirt with tight orange cuffs at the ends and what seemed to be red gardening gloves on her hands. She wore a oversized black beanie on her head with a picture of a skull on the top, with red cargo trousers and camouflage combat boots on her feet.

I can say for certain, out of everyone else here, this girl was the most liable to cause trouble, just from her grungy appearance alone. I could tell she was bad news before she even opened her mouth.

"You were having fun?" I asked, completely baffled by what she said, "I'm sorry but that was dangerous, you could have been burned severely!"

"Nuh uh, I wear fire retardant clothing, so it won't harm me!" she retorted, sticking her tongue out at me, "I just wanted to test out these new matches I got!"

There's obviously no point in arguing with her if she's going to be stubborn about almost setting the place on fire so nonchalantly. I didn't even need to make a good first impression with her.

"Excuse me, miss," I said to her sternly, "Didn't your mother ever tell you not to play with matches?"

"Whatever, you're no fun!" she crossed her arms and pouted even more, like a child who lost their favorite toy, "I can see why no one would want to be around someone like you."

Has she looked in a mirror recently? Just as I suspected, this girl is intolerable.

"Can you at least tell me your name?" I calmed down and asked her politely.

"Not until you apologize for messing up my flames!" she childishly mused, "I'm waiting!"

"Are you serious…." I looked at her disappointedly, "Fine, I'm sorry for messing up your precious flames."

"Good, that wasn't so hard now was it," she mischievously smirked, "I'm the one! The only! BLAZING ARSONIST HERSELF! HOTARU IKERU! WOO YEAH! AND THE CROWD GOES WILD!"

 **HOTARU IKERU - ULTIMATE ARSONIST**

Wow she's wi- Wait a minute! Did she say arsonist!? What the hell!? Why is there a criminal here!? This is insane….

"I'm sorry, am I hearing this right?" I was dumbfounded to hear that, "Did you just say…"

"Arsonist, yeah I did... and?" Hotaru tilted her head and smiled slyly, "Is there a problem mister?"

Ok now this is going a bit too far, I mean I understand this project offers talent removals for people like her, but where is the security of this place?! I mean, she can just do this with no consequences whatsoever, jeez….thanks a lot Mr. Yanagi, so much for a safe environment.

"U-Um…" Cherika coughed some more, "Kichi...cough…"

"Let's get out of here sis," I carried Cherika out of the flower field, "It was "nice" meeting you Hotaru…don't burn down the place while we're gone..."

"Nice meeting ya too, buzzkill!" she grinned mischievously and skipped off, dancing in the ashes of her handiwork like a child playing with their new toys on their birthday, "No promises!"

I rushed out of the garden as quickly as humanly possible, being slightly hysteric, trying my best to keep calm despite our intense encounter with Hotaru.

"You okay, sis?" I asked Cherika, gasping for fresh air.

"Y-Yeah….I'm f-f-fine.." Cherika panted and paced.

I should have expected this quite honestly. The program encouraged expunging taboo and unethical talents, so Hotaru being here isn't really all that surprising. I'm more worried over the fact she can openly desecrate private property like that and have no repercussions come her way. No rest for the wicked I guess..

"Thanks K-Kichi…" Cherika mumbled, "H-Hotaru kind of...creeps me out.."

"Well I'm just glad you're safe Cherry," I smiled, rubbing her head.

"Now let's go-" I was interrupted as I bumped into something, "Oof…"

I fell to the ground, falling on my back onto the rocky surface. Whatever I bumped into, it seemed to push me back with enough force to push down a tree, almost.

"Oh man…" I rubbed my back, "That suck- Agh!"

I felt my body rise up sharply as I arose to my feet, it seemed as if I was magically lifted up by a crane claw with how forceful the pull was. My wrist was slightly red due to the forceful pull.

"Oh!" I dusted off my clothes and looked up to see something I didn't expect to see at all.

In front of me, I saw someone standing stiffly in place. They seemed to be about the same height as me, maybe a bit shorter, it was hard to tell. Their intimidating appearance left me tongue-tied for words as I couldn't help but stand in awe at this person.

"Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry," I apologized profusely.

"Hmph…" the person grunted, their voice a bit deeper than I imagined.

From first impressions, I could tell the person was a guy. He had a very muscular build, almost bodybuilder-like with how defined his large biceps looked even when at his sides. His tan skin was rough looking while his eyes were a bright golden color. His silver hair was short, spiky and unkempt as it formed a cool buzz cut style look. He was probably shorter than me despite his intimidating frame.

His clothes are what astonished me the most; I was a bit worried but also curious as to his choice in fashion, as it was very concerning. He wore a black jacket hoodie with a skeleton ribcage design on the front along with skeleton arms on the sleeves. It was hard to tell, but he wore a black shirt underneath the hoodie and I could see some red stripes on its edges. Completing his outfit were a black turtleneck undershirt, dark grey cargo slacks and a pair of leather brown shoes, almost military-fashioned boots. A lot of people wore boots, I noticed. Oh well.

His dark attire made me almost mistake him for some type of thug. Of course, since he is almost as tall as me given his domineering stance, I didn't feel like openly voicing my complaints about that in front of him.

"You alright?" the hooded man asked in a deep grumbly voice.

"Yeah...I can walk it off.." I told him, "Thanks for helping me up."

He didn't respond, just nodded stoically and went along his way, casually ignoring us as if we were just obstacles in his path. He's probably one of those man of few words types.

"H-Hey…" Cherika added, "Y-You're..leaving already?"

"Yeah...got a an issue with that?" he sternly looked at us.

"N-N-No…" Cherika cowardly hid behind me.

"Can you at least tell us your name?" I asked as he stopped in his tracks, turning to face us, his golden eyes looking furrowed and sunken in.

"The name's Norio Kuromiya, The Ultimate Vigilante," he curtly said, matter-of-factly, "Is that all, or are we going to have a problem?"

 **NORIO KUROMIYA - ULTIMATE VIGILANTE**

"N-No no, none at all, Norio!" I quickly responded back, not hesitating one bit, "Just wanted to know is all.."

"Suit yourself kid," he said, walking off firmly, "Just don't get in my way."

Well...he was interesting….that was by far the most brief introduction I've ever seen in my life. I can tell that he's someone you didn't want on your bad side, that's for sure. So we best leave him be for now, unless we want to get beaten to a pulp.

A vigilante though? So he's like some type of crime fighter or something like in those comics? That's strange, but actually kind of magnanimous of him to do. I mean, what he's doing is illegal, but if justice is served, then who am I to complain?

"H-He looked s-scary…" Cherika cowered behind me, "I hope w-we didn't a-annoy him…"

"I hope so too…" I sweat dropped out of fear.

After our curt encounter with Norio, we walked around the carnival some more, my head still spinning from the fall I took earlier and Cherika still anxious and frantic from all the people we've met so far. We just needed to sit down and rest as it seemed all the introductions were wearing us out.

"Oh man….I just want to sleep right now…" I sighed as we approached a nearby bench, "I could pass out right here on this bench..."

"S-Same...but maybe not like T-Tsukae…" Cherika mumbled, sneaking in a cute giggle.

We both chuckled wholeheartedly, staring at the late afternoon sky above. The vivid reds, the translucent oranges and the faded yellows collided with each other, forming a fiery aurora of warm colors and impending nightfall.

"How pretty…" said a soft voice next to me, "This scene...it's so illuminating."

I turned to my side to see that someone else was sitting right next to me. It was a girl, she seemed to be deep in thought as she twirled her pencil around and drew on a sketchpad resting on her lap.

"Oh uh...hello," I said, coming to my senses, "I didn't see you there, my bad."

"H-Hi…" Cherika muttered.

The girl didn't seem to hear us as she continued with her sketching, her dull grey pencil strokes flowing across the page so effortlessly, as if she could do it with her eyes closed. She must be some kind of artist if that's the case.

"Uh...hey anyone home?" I asked worriedly, waving to her, "Hello?"

She once again still didn't seem to hear us as she continued to focus on her drawing. Almost lost in thought at that, her head in the clouds as she continued fiddling with her pencil.

"I need to get a better angle of this…" she muttered as she stood up, "Can't see much from here…"

As she stood up from her seat, what shocked me the most about this girl was the fact that she was inhumanely tall. She was as tall as a light post, looking to be about 7ft. tall. It was a sight to see as she looked as if she was standing on wooden stilts.

"Woah…" Cherika stood in awe at the girl's amazing height, "She's t-tall…"

"Yeah…" I nodded as the girl put her hand up in the air and positioned herself so that she could get a better view of the sunset.

The girl's appearance was very simple looking, in contrast to her height which made her look a bit awkward and gangly. It was hard to tell, but she looked somewhat flabby, but not overweight by any means. Her light skin tone wasn't pale nor was it on the fair side, almost as if she rarely went outside, aside from a few occasions. Her skin was smooth but her hands had calluses on them, probably from all the drawing and sketching. Her eyes were a dull brown color so her expression almost looked like a glazed stare and her lavender, wavy mid length hair ended at her back, looking somewhat tangled and messy like a grassy bush or a shrub.

Her clothing consisted of a purple hoodie that almost looked snug to the touch with an abstract white rabbit on its back. From the outline of the hoodie, she must be wearing an undershirt underneath along with dark blue jeans and a pair of brown sneakers with colorful socks that were decorated with pawprints as the pattern around the ankles. Lastly, she wore a pair of silver glasses with very large round frames that had some scratches on the lenses, a pair of earrings, one shaped like a sun and the other a moon, and she toted a large dark blue purse that seemed to be filled with personal items.

This girl had a very mellow and simplistic sense of fashion, compared to the bombastic clothing that some other people here were sporting. It's as if she just slapped on that outfit and went out of her house without checking her appearance to see if it needed grooming or a second glance in the mirror.

"Perfect...this is just what I need to complete this sketch," she softly remarked.

"Excuse me!" I called out to her, this time a bit louder, "Down here."

She turned her head in response and looked around a bit, then looking down to see us sitting on the bench.

"Oh...you were talking to me?" she seemed surprised to see us, "I thought I was hearing things….sorry about that."

"Um yeah...that's a really cool drawing you have there," I told her looking at her half finished sketch in her hand, "Also no worries."

"Oh...thanks…" she formed a small smile on her face, "Excuse me for not seeing you guys….I guess I got lost in my art…"

I chuckled at her remark as Cherika eyed her sketch with an intense look, almost as if she was analyzing it like an art critic at a museum gallery. The astonished look on her face said it all: she was enamored with the sketch.

"Y-You like t-to draw too?" Cherika asked, "Wow….your art is better t-than mine.."

"You think so…" the tall girl looked at her half drawn sketch, "I guess it's okay…."

"Pardon me for asking, but what's your name?" I asked politely, "Sorry for the abrupt question, just curious is all."

"My name….oh yeah sorry…." she snapped out of her daze and fixed her glasses, "What was it...oh yeah, I'm Jun Nousagi. I draw pictures, they're not that great honestly, but some people like them I guess…"

"And are you an artist by chance?" I asked her, "You must be an Ultimate if that's the case?"

"Yes...more specifically people, call me the Ultimate Digital Artist….I think."

 **JUN NOUSAGI - ULTIMATE DIGITAL ARTIST**

A digital artist, that's actually a normal talent, considering the ones we've seen so far. Aside from her height, Jun seemed like a very easygoing and nice person to talk to. Her absent-minded greeting made her come off a bit aloof, but at least she's not insulting us or talking in weird terms or, god forbid, setting stuff on fire.

"Ooh you l-like to d-draw too?" Cherika piped up, "M-Me too…"

"Oh...cool," Jun calmly noted, "Maybe you can show me your work later….if you want to."

Cherika nodded affirmingly. It's nice that she met someone else here with a common interest as her. I'm glad she's opening up to more people.

"I think….I want to stay here a bit," Jun looked at the slowly moving sunset ahead, "It was nice meeting you too…"

"And the same to you too Jun," I tipped my hat to her, "Good luck with your sketch."

"See you later J-Jun…" Cherika shakily waved to her.

"Bye…" she softly spoke, going back to her drawing.

We left Jun by herself as she continued staring at the sunset, almost hypnotized by its beauty. We wandered around the carnival some more, contemplating if there was anyone else or anything left to see.

As we walked around aimlessly, we came across a weirdly colored tent that seemed different from the other ones in the area.

Unlike the red and white striped tents we saw before, this one sported black and white colors with a red flag flying in the wind at the top of it. It wasn't too large and it seemed to be closed with a handmade lock attached to the zipper forming the tent's entrance. It seems as if someone was trying to hide something inside.

"Huh….I wonder why this is locked," I knelt down to observe the lock further, "Was it always like this?"

"M-Maybe someone did that...b-before we c-came here.." Cherika thought.

Not sure of what to do, we gave up trying to inspect the tent further and turned around to notice someone behind us. It was a guy this time, and he seemed to be observing the tent as well, with his finger to his chin.

"Oh crap!" I jumped in surprise, "W-What's that!?"

"Oh, excuse me," he apologized to us, walking over to the tent, "Huh...odd choice for security.."

My sister and I stared at the boy, who, much like Jun, was lost in thought. He perused the tent from top to bottom, inspecting the material it was made from and was thinking deeply about something.

"N-No worries.." I said, letting him continue what he was doing.

"U-Um….where did y-you come from?" Cherika asked, a bit anxious.

"I was located over there," he pointed over to a yellow bench he was previously sitting on, not taking his eyes off of the tent, "You two didn't see me since I was out of your line of sight."

His tone sounded very blunt, but in a very professional manner, almost as if you were talking to an adult rather than a teenager. It was kind of off putting, but I'm not one to judge.

"Hm….." he thought to himself, not saying much as he just kept on observing the tent.

While he was busy with his inspection, I took this time to get a good grasp of what he looked like.

He was taller than me by a few inches and his dark pink hair was slicked back, very cleanly at that. His green eyes were big and very expressive while his face was a diamond shape. His skin was pale and he was a mixture of both slender and fit.

He wore a white button-down shirt with the first few buttons undone on his collar, a red leather jacket left open, a pair of black pants and black boots on his feet, along with a gold wristwatch on his right wrist.

His look didn't seem that impressive aside from his pink hair and it was more casual for a businessman style look. He seemed like a rich kid of sorts but I didn't get that vibe from him; he seemed more responsible if that makes sense. It was hard to describe him exactly.

"Ok…umm..." I replied, "And you are?

He coldly looked at the both of us, almost analyzing us like a computer AI, his eyes scanning us up and down like one of those futuristic machines in sci-fi shows.

"Genki Ohno, nice to meet you two," he plainly introduced himself, adjusting his watch, "I'm the Ultimate Risk Analyst."

 **GENKI OHNO - ULTIMATE RISK ANALYST**

A risk analyst? I wasn't sure what that was. Does he analyze risk? Of what exactly? I'm not really sure, this talent is lost on me.

"From your very confused looks," he noticed, "You're probably wondering what my talent entails."

"I-I…" Cherika stammered, lost for words, "Umm…"

"I basically calculate and use statistics to determine if a possible outcome will lead to a fruitful success or a spiraling downfall," he remarked, very matter-of-factly, almost like a robot.

"So you basically analyze if an endeavor is worth pursuing or not?" I asked, trying to word it carefully as to not offend him.

"In layman's terms, yes." he nodded, sighing deeply, "But enough about me, you two are participants in this program as well, am I correct?"

Genki sure didn't waste anytime cutting to the point, I can respect that in a person. So far he's not as quirky as the others we've met, yet I still knew nothing about him, even though we had just met.

"Yes we are," I responded, "I guess so are you?"

"Correct," he looked at the tent behind us, "I've done my research on this program and have come to the conclusion that this will most definitely be beneficial for everyone, myself included."

He's blunt, but his words sounded similar to that of a teacher who talks in long-winded statements and over-explains everything.

"Alright…." I sweatdropped.

"Is that all?" Genki crossed his arms, wondering if we had anything else to say.

"N-No…." I told him, still wondering what he was talking about, shaking my head.

Genki sighed, he seemed a bit disappointed, but not upset, "Then, if you'll excuse me…"

He then walked off. It seemed he was going to observe the other booths in the meantime, probably wondering if they held any secrets like this mysterious tent.

"Ok then…." I looked on as he walked off, "He's….special, I guess?"

"Probably…" Cherika thought, scratching her head, "W-What was h-he talking about?"

"I honestly don't know...too tired to care right now.." I replied, yawning loudly.

My sister also stretched and yawned, it seems she was just as exhausted as I was, considering we both did it in unison.

"Let's go sis," I told her, "Time to take a break."

"You said it…" she sleepily mumbled, yawning some more.

We walked away from the mysterious tent, still unsure of what it contained and why Genki was so infatuated with it. I guess that's something we'll discover later on.

It seemed we've met about twenty other people so far, which means, including us, there are 22 participants going through this program.

"Wow..there's a lot of people here," I chuckled in response, "I guess this program attracted a lot of people...interesting ones for that matter."

"I-I guess…." Cherika sighed, "A-At least we're not alone here…"

That was true. Despite the amount of shady and questionable characters we've met so far, I have to say this amount of willing participants is pretty impressive for one session that was going to last months. If this project is supposed to last that long, then that means these people are also going to be our acquaintances as well. Therefore, getting to know them better just might help.

"I suppose we might as well get used to seeing them everyday…" I told her, "I hope that's alright Cherry...I know this is a lot for you to take in."

"Mhm…." she nodded shakily, "I'm j-just...I don't h-have a good feeling about all of t-this…"

"Will you stop worrying sis?" I shook my head in denial, "It's going to be alright, as long as I'm here to help you...this will all be over before you know it."

"I-I hope...you're r-right about this.." she nervously glanced to her side and rubbed her shoulders.

I don't blame her for being cautious, so far we've met nothing but strange people who've either weirded us out, been unusually hostile despite having just met us, talked in the weirdest vernacular ever or were unbelievably chipper and candid to people they just met. So it's understandable she'd be a bit wary of them.

It was very hard to gauge who was someone to potentially keep as a friend or someone who you'd need to keep a mindful eye on 24/7. Either way, we were each going to get our own specially cared-for treatments, for helping us get rid of our talents. I hope this works...it must work.

"Kichi...do you-" Cherika tried to talk, before getting cut off by a static noise coming from above.

"What's that?" I covered my ears from the deafening sound, "It hurts my ears!"

"I d-don't know!" Cherika trembled, "Make i-it stop.."

The static noises ceased after five minutes and started to clear up as a voice of sorts started to resound from the megaphones located on tops of nearby wooden poles. It patted the microphone a few times, testing it to see if it worked.

I wonder what it was? Is it….Mr. Yanagi?

* * *

 **Meanwhile...**

It felt like any other ordinary day. The morning felt like another endless loop of the same repetitive formula for me. But despite how dull it felt at first, this morning was an exception, it was special compared to the usual.

I arose from my bed, stretching loosely and scratching myself before I forced myself out of my warm bed and headed to the bathroom. The usual routine of showering, brushing my teeth and shaving seemed to have become such a chore to me. My dull brown hair was poofy and messy, my sleepy blue eyes couldn't remain open for too long and my five o'clock shadow looked as prickly as ever.

"I miss sleeping in…." I mumbled, grabbing my toothbrush, "Oh well...sacrifices have to be made."

I finished everything I needed to do and headed back into my bedroom. It was nothing to brag about, being a simple room with a square king-sized bed with blue covers, a brown wooden desk in the front with paperwork stacked high as the ceiling itself with some papers coming loose, grey carpet floors and a closet filled with my clothes all recently neatly pressed and ironed.

"What to wear today…" I sleepily yawned, gazing at the wide array of suits to choose from, "Maybe this one.."

I eventually decided on an outfit for the day; it was nothing special, considering my line of work.

It was a white dress shirt with the sleeves cuffed with gold buttons, a blue dress vest, a dark blue blazer jacket, dark blue dress pants, black polished dress shoes with black socks, a black tie around my neck and my hair slicked back with some cheap hair gel I got at the store during a sale.

"Let's hope this all works out…" I sighed tiredly, "Hopefully, Miyumi doesn't get mad at me for being late again….she's so finicky."

I exited the comfort of my bedroom, carrying my briefcase and headed downstairs. I didn't have time for breakfast so I texted Miyumi that I needed a quick coffee fix and to buy me a glazed scone from the bakery.

I exited my home, embracing the warm sunlight on my skin as I entered my car, resting my suitcase on the passenger's seat and heading off to work like almost everyone else.

"I wonder what kinds of kids I'll meet today?" I thought to myself, driving down the oddly clear street, "Let's hope it won't be as disastrous as last time."

After about an hour of driving, I made it to my workplace. A tall building with glass windows, about ten stories high, stood before me as other businessmen and women were walking in and out of it like clockwork, some leaving work early or some heading off to grab an early lunch.

"Another day, another life to save.." I grabbed my things and exited my car after parking it in a designated spot.

Oh, I forgot to mention this spot was made for me. To specify, I'm the boss of this company.

The sign above the parking spot said 'reserved for the RRP Founder, Kiichigo Yanagi'.

I headed through the glass double doors and entered into the lobby of the building where there were lots of people inside, some who worked under me while the others were teenagers who were here for a reason or two.

"Good morning, Mr. Yanagi," smiled the receptionist at the front desk, "How are you today?"

"Just peachy," I chuckled at her, "And you, Kiyomi, how's the family?"

"We're doing great, thank you for asking sir," she responded, "It was my daughter's second birthday yesterday."

"Oh, then tell her I wish her a happy belated birthday," I said in response.

"I will, Mr. Yanagi," she smiled, "That's very nice of you."

"Please, I've told you a million times," I looked at her, "Call me Kiichigo, Mr. Yanagi is my father."

She giggled at my lame joke as she went ahead to type on her computer while I headed up to my office. I passed through some people walking by and made my way to the nearest elevator.

"I hope today goes smoothly…" I buttoned up my blazer nervously, "I don't need to have the fire department involved this time…"

I entered the elevator, pressing the button reading the number 10 and as people walked in and out of the elevator, they all wished me a good morning before I stepped out onto the tenth floor, my office area.

"Good morning, Mr. Yanagi," smiled my secretary, "You're two minutes early I see."

"Yes Miyumi, I got here before you could start scolding me," I chuckled again, "And how many times must I tell you, call me Kiichigo, you make me sound old, I'm only 34."

She laughed happily as I sweatdropped. Do I really look that old to people? Maybe it's the aftershave. Then again, she always did like to tease me, so it's nothing new.

"So what's on the agenda for today?" I asked her, "Hopefully these kids aren't all troublemakers like last time."

"Well, the 22 Ultimates are supposed to arrive today, they should be here shortly," Miyumi replied, checking her computer, "In about...twenty minutes or so."

"Great, thanks a lot," I smiled giving her a thumbs up, heading inside my office, "What would I do without you."

"Nothing really," she snorted, "Your breakfast is already inside on your desk. You were lucky, I just got the last scone, Kiichigo."

"I can always count on you, Yumi," I teased her, as she blushed at my cheesy nickname for her, "I'll be in my office if you need me."

I headed inside my office through the wooden double doors and was greeted with a large room that I knew all too well. Aside from my own house, this office was like second home to me.

The floor was a freshly cleaned black granite tiling with a large blue circle carpet in its middle. My desk was mahogany, freshly carved, courtesy of the Ultimate Woodshop Technician. My notes, papers, office supplies and a few picture frames rested on top of it, near a black leather swivel chair to sit on. A few mounted awards were scattered on the walls while the windows displayed a picturesque view of the busy streets below. A few bookshelves were filled with books, each one based around psychology, sociology or business marketing tactics for dummies. Everything I need to help these kids remove their talents.

"You can do this Kiichigo…" I reassured myself as I sat near my desk, "Another day, another group of Ultimates wanting to change their lives for the better."

I took out a black ink pen from the desk and began looking through files of previous cases of Ultimates having revoked their talents and began approving and signing each document accordingly. My hand got a bit tired after a while due to reading the same files over and over again, but being the head of the program, I need to get this done.

"Hah, the Ultimate Horseback Rider, poor girl," I laughed while signing her document, "Hopefully she doesn't have to worry about being kicked in the face anymore."

I continued signing more documents, stacking them inside of the outbox before sighing tiredly, taking off my jacket, resting it on the side and stretching my arms out to wear off the drowsiness.

"Ugh...thank goodness I got all that out of the way," I groaned loudly, "Now for a break, time for that scone!"

I noticed a brown bag next to a white coffee cup on my desk's right side. It was from a local bakery that the Ultimate Baker ran, I knew them from a while back. I pulled out the scone from the bag and ate it.

"Mmm...so good, flaky, nutty and gooey in the middle," I licked my lips and smacked my fingers, "Just how I like it."

I glanced over to a picture frame on the left side of my desk. Looking at it brings back memories I can't bring myself to stomach. It was a picture of me and a woman with dark blonde hair and brown eyes, she and I were smiling as it seemed we enjoyed each other's company in that moment in time.

"Oh Nanako…" I looked at it and rubbed her face on the picture, "I miss you…"

I looked more closely at the picture, getting a better look at it as I noticed that, in the picture, Nanako's stomach was larger than her body shape. I didn't feel good knowing that all those years of getting to know her...vanished like the fleeting hours in the day.

"Why did you leave…?" I sighed disappointedly, sipping my coffee, "Was I...not good enough?"

Then I heard a sudden buzzing noise that alerted me, almost making me jump from my seat and choke on my drink.

"Oh crap...what is it this time?" I sighed, pressing the button, "Yes Miyumi, I'm just taking a break right now."

"Sir….um…" she stammered for a bit, "We have an issue here…"

"I told you to call me Kiichigo," I sternly told her, "What's the matter?"

I didn't get a response from her as the doors to my office burst open as she hurriedly entered through them while she stifled her frantic movements but, knowing her all these years, she was probably going to give me some bad news.

"Sir...we have a bit of a problem…" she sweated, "You remember those new Ultimates who were supposed to come in today?…"

"Yes, what about them?" I sat back in my seat, a bit curious as to what she was about to say as I sipped more of my coffee.

"Uhh…..how do I put this nicely…" she mumbled anxiously, "The Ultimates are…...nowhere to be found."

In that moment, my body was still and my blood pressure almost skyrocketed. My body turned cold and lifeless.

"Is this a joke?" I chuckled nervously, "No, seriously where are they, did I miss them?"

Miyumi didn't seem to be giggling, as her uneasy body language said it all; she wasn't joking around.

"Kiichigo.." she apologized, bending forward, "They're gone…"

"What!?" I started to worry, almost spitting my coffee, "What do you meant they're nowhere to be found!?"

"I'm s-sorry sir…" she panicked, "It seems our limo drivers that were supposed to retrieve the Ultimates were found in a ditch this morning…their bodies...oh my god.."

She showed me a picture on her tablet, showing all 21 drivers' bodies inside a dirty ditch, their bodies mutilated beyond recognition and the limos set on fire.

"Shit!" I growled, "Get me the police! Get our team working on finding those kids, now!"

"Yes sir!" she responded, rushing out of my office.

"Goddamnit! This has never happened before, what the fuck is going on?!" I slammed my hand onto my desk, spilling my coffee, "Argh!"

I know Hope's Peak doesn't really view my corporation as the best and that it isn't well received by the headmaster... Then again, I don't think he'd stoop this low or go so far to ruin my reputation this disastrously. No...this is even worse.

"If it's not that school...and it's not an angry ex-participant…" I thought to myself tapping my foot,

"Then who would kidnap these teenagers so brazenly?"

A rush of emotions ran through my head as I grabbed my phone on the desk. I typed in a number and waited for them to ring.

"Yes, hello?" said a voice over the phone, "What can I do for you Mr. Yanagi?"

"We've got a problem…" I told them, "I need your help."

* * *

"Ahem, attention all RRP participants!" said a squeaky voice coming from the megaphones, "Please report to the circular main plaza for immediate orientation!"

The staticky voice disappeared from the megaphones, almost instantly, as I looked at Cherika, who was just as confused as I.

"I-Is that….for us?" she asked, a bit worried.

"I'm not sure…" I told her, "But there's only one way to find out."

My sister and I decided to follow the voice's instructions as we made our way to the circular plaza area. There were tents formed into the shape of a circle with a wooden podium stand in the center of a wooden stage, itself in the middle of the plaza.

I saw the others gather to the rendezvous point as well, at the same time as us. Some were walking in groups while others were walking in by themselves. I could tell they were a bit unsure or curious as to what was going on as well, considering it just seemed to be the 22 of us alone and it looked as if there weren't any representatives of the program around either. So I guess this should be a sign that something was wrong.

"W-What's going on, Kichi?" Cherika mumbled, eyeing everyone nervously and cowering behind me.

"I'm not sure Cherry...I'm just as much in the dark as you and everyone else are," I told her, a bit hesitant of what was to come next.

The indistinct mumbling coming from the others was hard to make out, as it was a mixture of anxiety, worry and cold dead somber silence in this abandoned-looking carnival. For once, this place inspired only one thing: the fear of the unknown.

"Ahem!" announced a loud high-pitched voice, "Thank you all for congregating here and joining me, my lovely participants!"

We all turned to face the wooden stage and, out from nowhere, something popped out from behind the podium, like a jack in the box. It surprised us as something suddenly landed on top of the podium and sat on it, looking at us motionlessly.

It was...a bear!?

"Welcome rejects!" a voice snickered, "Thank you all for joining me… I hope you enjoy your stay!"

* * *

 **A/N** : Hello hello hello lovely people, I hope all of you are doing well. Here it is, the long awaited second and final part of LR intros, hallelujah!

I'm so sorry this part took so long to come out everyone, I've been busy with IRL life as per usual. I've started taking some lessons and other things so I keep busy when I can. Also, something else came up in my life that's a bit personal, so I won't go into too much detail about it, however that event put me in a somewhat bad mood as of late and my writing mojo kind of disappeared for a bit.

But I'm back now with a brand new chapter and I hope you guys loved it and to the people whose OC's were introduced, I hope you enjoyed this part overall. If there are mistakes I made with portraying your OC, please let me know ASAP.

For now, I will be focusing a bit on my first story's third case since it's been a while since I've worked on that one and the second story is still in the process of reworking submissions, so feel free to check it out, *insert shameless plug here* XD.

Danganronpa Salty Waves and Bloody Coral

But if you're interested in submitting an OC have fun, there are three spots left X3.

With that all out of the way, I hope you guys are doing well, I've been pushing through a lot of stress and this was a generally bad week for me in terms of emotional stress and such, but I'm still alive XD.

If you have questions on potential case ideas, please feel free to let me know in the reviews or the PM's. Also thank you once again for supporting me and my lackluster upload dates, I know these are infrequent, but I make due with what I can :3.

I hope you all are having a great day, night, holiday or whatever it is you're celebrating right now. School is starting back for some of you, but not for me hehehe.

Happy reading my fellow readers, authors and otaku alike, I will see you lovely people in the next upload whenever I decide to post next.

Bye bye!


	5. LR: Prologue & VA Intros

**Editors: Crimson Spider Lily & KISL**

* * *

I stood there in awe, completely dumbfounded. All twenty two of us stood in the plaza circle staring at the wooden stage with anticipation. We didn't expect what appeared before us, resting on top of the wooden podium was a stuffed plush bear. It was short and looked like one of those toys you get from Craft-A-Cub stores.

It was a black and white bear with the colors split down the middle. The bear's right side was a happy white half with a dotted black eye, while the left side was an evil black half with a sharp smile curled at the end that extended to its cheek, along with a red zig zag eye glaring at us menacingly, almost as if that was one of its built-in features, giving it a darker contrast.

However this bear had more to it than that simple description. The white side had random paint splotches covering it from head to toe. The colors varied from red, green, blue, yellow, pink, purple, orange, amongst others, almost as if buckets of paint had splashed onto the ground and stained the bear's white hide from the impact. The black side's white smile curled at the ends into a swirled tip with some dark red paint dripping from its mouth area, as if it had just devoured fresh prey. The small black nose on the bear's face was painted a bright red hue to resemble a clown's nose. It wore a black and white striped party hat on its head with a red fuzzy tip at the top, a very apropos if not crude touch to finalize its look.

Words couldn't describe how utterly confused and flabbergasted I was at its comically over-the-top appearance, but its succinct words, as it greeted us, were something that really made my skin crawl and chilled my spine.

"Welcome, my lovely participants!" The bear stood on its hind legs effortlessly, bowing politely in return, "Thank you all for joining me, my name is Monojoker! It's nice to meet you all!"

The awkward silence that echoed throughout the crowd was apparent. From the sand dust blowing in the area, crickets could be heard as the bear was even more confused by our lackluster responses.

"What, no warm welcome?" the colorfully designed bear pouted, "Geez, tough crowd…"

Personally, I still didn't know how to approach this situation whatsoever. I stood there, my mouth agape and rubbing my eyes to make sure I wasn't imagining this; to my surprise, I wasn't dreaming this one up. The bear then somersaulted off of the podium, landing on the wooden stage as it posed with their arms in the air, expecting some applause. It then waddled to the front of the stage in a silly manner, almost trying to come off as humorous in order to make us laugh.

"Come on now, someone say something already," Monojoker growled, "I know all of you aren't mute, so someone speak up before I get mad!"

After a few minutes of processing the bear's greeting and some of us lacking the courage to start talking, one person broke the ice, which was one of the lawyers we met earlier by the waterpark.

"Who are you?" Daiko asked, a bit curious, "What's going on here?"

He seemed clearly confused, raising an eyebrow and looking deep in thought.

"Is the project putting on a performance for us?" Shion wondered, fixing her jacket, "Did I miss something in my packet or form?"

"I'm not quite sure," Asahi thought, putting his finger to his lips, "I don't remember the brochure mentioning anything like this nor a talking bear, from what I read."

Some of us were totally baffled by this sudden turn of events, while others were oddly thrilled for some reason. Case in point, I turned my gaze over to Shiho, who was eyeing the bear, almost out of pure fascination.

"How very strange indeed!" Shiho chirped, slightly confused but somehow perky, "He's so adorable though, reminds me of this one little bear cub I met in the wild and nursed back to health!"

"Hey, I'm not adorable! Don't even think about calling me cute either!" Monojoker growled, "I'm your host and you will respect my authority!"

Monojoker showed his sharp white claws, clearly frustrated by the fact his message flew over our heads, which only left us with more questions than answers. I tried to gauge what to do, when someone else entered the conversation, being none other than our resident arsonist.

"Oh how precious~ The little bear is getting flustered!" Hotaru interjected, a smile plastered on her face, devoid of concern or worry, "I wonder how long he'd last with me around, this is going to be so much fun!"

In contrast to her and Shiho, more people voiced their opinion on the bear's design, only adding to the bear's ensuing fury, judging from the redness emanating from his skin, red eye shining brighter than ever.

"How tacky and unoriginal," Itsuki scoffed, putting his hands inside of his tattered pockets, "Mr. Yanagi wasted precious money of this cheap plastic toy meant for little kids...typical rich people, they don't trust us to keep ourselves entertained."

"I'm not a toy!" Monojoker cried, "But I'll let you off with a warning this time, never call me that again."

"Ooh I'm so scared," Chihaya sarcastically taunted the bear, stifling some laughter, "What are you going to do, cuddle us to death with your fluffiness?"

"Well that was the plan," Monojoker blushed, getting hot and bothered as well, "But I guess we'll have to skip the formalities here."

The bear jumped back on top of the podium before clearing its throat and patting on the microphone that rested on the desk part. It's as if this bear was doing some kind of orientation or something with the way he tried to get our attention.

"Ahem!" Monojoker announced, "Welcome to the greatest carnival on earth! A place full of magic, wonder, excitement and despair! A place where even the most serious of businessmen can lose themselves in these wretched parks of fun and endless childhood memories. Feast your eyes as this might be your last~"

The bear continued with his monologue, his expressive hand motions and flashy appearance emphasizing the glamor of this abandoned carnival, despite the lifeless aura surrounding this desolate memory. As of right now, I still didn't know how to approach this situation, but if I didn't speak up then I wouldn't get any answers.

"Why are we here?" Shannon asked, raising her hand as the bear looked through the crowd, "I thought we were supposed to go to some facility that was in some part of the city?"

"Change of plans, sweetheart!" the bear jumped off the podium again, "The big boss announced that this place will be the new site for you rejects' life changing experience!"

"Mr. Yanagi…." I mumbled to myself, "He sent us here?!"

"R-Rejects?" Cherika nervously mumbled, "W-What are those?"

"Why, that's a very good question, Cherry," the bear snickered, suddenly appearing by her side, "I'm glad you asked!"

Cherika jumped in fright as I cautiously approached them, trying not to lose my temper. I got in front of Cherika and confronted the bear.

"How do you know my sister's name?" I asked it, "What's going on, why are we here!?"

"Oh Kichi...I know everyone's names~ I know everything about every single one of you rejects," Monojoker giggled evilly, "I know your birthdays, likes, dislikes, habits, hobbies and even the last time you took a dump!"

"Eww," Hibiki cringed, "That's kind of dumb, but you do you."

"It's a bluff, kid," Norio grunted, leaning against a pole, "He's got nothing on us, don't take what he says seriously."

"I think the fact he knew their names is somewhat proof enough..right?" Gabe responded, a bit dejectedly.

"True, but maybe this is all one big prank," Ayano thought, "Like that one prank show where the host comes out and scares the pants off of us and tells us we got punked!"

"I highly doubt that," Norio scoffed, "But it's your funeral, kid."

Some of the others tried to find some light in this situation. I guess it was their coping mechanism or something, because from the nervous stance some of them had, it spoke volumes in comparison.

"Ooh, sounds exciting!" Banri jumped into the conversation, "I wonder if I'd get to meet bad guys as well! I can pummel them into the ground!"

Banri on the other hand, didn't seem irritated nor did he once show any signs of worry. It's as if he was unaware of the mood of the crowd and just acted like his usual hyperactive self.

"Maybe save that for another time, darling," Hibiki sweatdropped, "Although all of this does seem like one of those reality TV shows that most celebrities agree to be on…"

"Do you really think so?" Jun mused, scratching her head, "I don't remember that…..or did I forget about it?"

"Oh this is definitely a show!" Monojoker giggled mischievously, "And what's even better, you guys will be the stars providing the entertainment, how swell!"

Provide the entertainment? What is he talking about?! We just got here and nothing that came out of the bear's mouth made a lick of sense. He was speaking in normal words but they came off more cryptic than anything.

"Entertainment?" Aki interjected, trying to continue the conversation, "Pardon me for asking, but what do you mean by that exactly?"

"Maybe clean out your ears next time," Monojoker facepalmed, "It's exactly what it means! All of you are my little playthings, you will all entertain me until I get bored of you and move on!"

The bear started cackling and laughing uncontrollably, its high-pitched tone being enough to cause someone to go deaf from listening to it alone. I covered my ears and noticed the others didn't look too pleased with this situation either.

"Foul demon!" Chris glared at the bear, "Explain yourself at once! What are your plans for us and where are we!?"

Chris brandished his sword and riposted in front of the bear, almost ready to attack it at any moment's provocation. Despite his valiant front, I could tell some sweat was trickling down the side of his head as he gestured to the bear to confront him.

"Oh please, I've seen penises longer than that flimsy excuse of a knife," Monojoker jeered, teasing him, "You'd probably have a better time cutting cheese than trying to fight me, Tin man."

"How dare you!" Chris rushed up to the bear, until someone stopped him, "Wha-"

I noticed Galiana, one of the lawyers, had extended her hand out to his chest. She looked at him and nodded as he sheathed his sword and backed down, almost on command.

"Answer me this, demonic bear," Galiana firmly said, her cape swooshing behind her, "How are we supposed to entertain you? Do you wish to toy with us, break our spirits and our ironclad wills, until we are shells of our former selves?"

Despite her very grand tone, I understood what she was talking about. I still had no clue what she was going on about, but I got the core message loud and clear. She didn't seem intimidated by the bear's empty words.

"There she goes again…" Daiko sighed, "But yes, do you have some sort of plan for us?"

"A great question indeed, you two!" Monojoker smiled from ear to ear, "Why, I want you all to participate in my very own special Killing Game of course!"

Did I hear him right….killing game? My stomach churned at the mention of those words. What is even going on!?

"Killing game…" Jun stared ahead, "Is that like a type of board game?"

"I don't think he means it like that," Shannon shook her head.

"Whatever it is," Chris furrowed his brow and glared at the bear, "It's nothing short of suspicious."

"I'm tired of this...…" Tsukae yawned, stretching her arms out, "Wake me up when something happens..."

"I don't think now's a good time to be sleeping," Asahi eyed her worriedly as she laid down on a nearby bench.

"Did she inhale some sulfur?" Aki wondered, "That would make anyone sleepy."

"Sulfur?" Banri wondered, "What's that, can you eat it!?"

Everyone started talking nonstop as Monojoker got even more frustrated that we were ignoring him. I was worried that something was going to happen, but with the mention of this killing game, I wanted to hightail it out of here as soon as possible.

"No no no," Monojoker swished his hands around, "I mean good ol' fashioned killing! The whole shebang, solving mysteries and uncovering the dastardly killers hiding in your group."

"K-Kichi…" Cherika trembled, hugging my arm, "What is h-he talking about?"

"I don't know…" I was too stumped to give her a proper answer.

"And what does this Killing Game comprise of?" Genki added, sitting on a bench nearby, "If we are to participate, then we must know all the rules, the ins and outs of this game, shouldn't we?"

"And another fantastic question, thanks for asking, Genny!" Monojoker teased, the risk analyst obviously not amused by the nickname.

"When I say killing, I mean it in every sense of the word!" Monojoker sneered, "Stabbing, poisoning, suffocating, bludgeoning, crushing, shooting, choking, slicing, dicing and all of the above! I want it all!"

This bear...he's crazy...I still had no idea what he was talking about, but from that alone, it cemented the fact he was one hundred percent insane. It seemed his cartoonish look was only there to play up the clown motif of this carnival, but I never knew it would end up being something as sinister as this.

"K-Kichi..w-what's going to h-happen?" Cherika muttered, cowering behind me, "I'm s-scared.."

"Nothing is going to h-happen, sis.." I whispered to her, "Just stay behind me.."

"I had an uneasy premonition that this would happen," Nashi sighed deeply, "If only I didn't brush it off as a joke…."

"He wants us to…" Shion trailed off, trying to compose herself, "...kill each other."

"Welp….so much for removing my talent…" Gabe held his head down and sighed, sitting next to his trash can.

"Aww come on guys, you can't honestly believe this bear's word, right?" Ayano asked us all, trying to rally some morale.

I looked around the area and noticed a lot of people mumbling to themselves. Some of us looked concerned, others were indifferent to the situation and ignored Ayano's words, while a rare few didn't feel intimidated at all by this bear's requests and demands. To tell you the truth, I was quite scared myself, but I couldn't show it. I have to be brave...

"This is stupid…" Itsuki crossed his arms, being about to walk off.

"Wait a minute, Rags," Monojoker jumped in front of the EMT, "You didn't let me finish."

"I honestly couldn't give a single fuck," he sighed, pushing back some of his messy fringe.

"Same here," Chihaya added, she seemed just as bored with this bear's ramblings, "Can we just leave already? This so tedious."

"I have one more thing to do before I can let you all leave," Monojoker walked over to the stage and jumped back on top of it. "Now that we have those formalities out of the way," Monojoker smiled and jumped back onto the podium, "I can hand you all these!"

"Ooh, what are we getting?" Shiho's eyes sparkled.

"I hope it's something exciting!" Hotaru chimed in, "I wonder if it's nitroglycerin or something!"

"Ummm...just, no.." I sighed, knowing that it was pointless to reason with her.

"It's even better than all that cheap stuff!" Monojoker cheerily smiled, "Give me one second to get them!"

Monojoker then went behind the podium, pulled out 22 stacks of brown envelopes and balanced them like plates stacked one on top of each other. It seemed he was having a hard time seeing in front of him, with all of the envelopes blocking his line of sight.

"Almost there," Monojoker wobbled back and forth with the envelopes, some slipping from his grasp, "Oh crap!"

The bear dropped each one carelessly, some of them surprisingly landing on the wooden stage and lined up in a perfect vertical pattern. I don't know how that was possible, but that was pretty impressive.

Some of us were too confused to laugh at the bear's antics as we approached the stage to retrieve the envelopes.

"What are these?" I asked the bear, heading over, curious as to what they contained, "Is it dangerous?"

"I h-hope not…" Cherika meekly picked hers up before shakily opened it up and out popped an electronic device from inside.

"What is this?" Daiko wondered, "Are they Ipads?"

"These, my dear participants, are your student handbooks, or as I like to call them, Monopads!" The bear smiled and twirled around like a ballerina, "Aren't I amazing, you now have even more technology to use and go about ruining your lives and wasting them away."

"How meta.." Gabe sulked, heading over to the envelopes, like everyone else.

We each received our Monopad, with Asahi giving Tsukae her own, right after waking her up from her short nap.

"Why are you giving us this?" I asked once more, "Why is it important?"

"Jeez, you ask a lot of dumb questions," Monojoker sighed despondently, "Simply put, these are vital for any student who is in my Killing Game, you only get one and if you destroy it, there will be consequences."

"Oh, and what might that be?" Galiana asked, still curious and ready to fight off the bear, "Are they going to be used to trick us into doing as you say?"

"You wound me, madam," Monojoker feigned being hurt, "No it's nothing like that, think of it as your own personal device to help you with daily stuff like alarms, reminders and all that junk."

"So, an Ipad," Tsukae sleepily said, "How pointless…"

"At least you brats get something to keep you occupied," Monojoker growled, "And no thank you's? So much for being a generous host."

"I refuse to use this," Shiho threw the tablet to the ground, somehow not breaking, "Manmade technology is a huge no no in my books!"

"It seems the little monkey didn't get the message that vandalism of personal and private property is prohibited, but I'll let it slide, since I'm in a good mood."

Shiho begrudgingly took the device and put it back into the envelope, still unsure about even using it. I guess she's used to not relying on modern technology, if her being in the wilderness is true.

"Hmm…" Genki analyzed his tablet, it seemed he didn't have much trouble using it, "This could prove useful…"

"This device even has a braille feature," Nashi felt his tablet and pondered, "How peculiar...it seems you are more forward thinking that I would have imagined."

"Why, thank you!" Monojoker blushed, putting his paws to his painted cheeks, "As your host, I will do whatever it takes to make you rejects feel right at home!"

The bear's words and actions contradicted each other, almost as if it was intentional. I looked at my tablet and opened it up to see my profile, which showed a headshot of my face, my name, birthday, weight, height, blood type and even, like he said, my likes and dislikes.

"This is freaky.." I continued scrolling through the Monopad, "It's as if he knew all of this from the start or something."

"This is kind of creepy," Aki scrolled through hers, trying to stay positive, "But at least it's something helpful!"

"I wonder if I can find any painting apps…" Jun starred the screen, almost squinting to get a better look.

It seemed some of us were trying to make the most out of this strange dilemma. It was odd yet I didn't feel as dreadful as I did before, for some reason. I must be tired from the long car ride or from the dehydration from the hot sun.

"Is that all, villain?" Chris asked, his hand on his sword, "Your hollow words fall on deaf ears, I swear on my knightly honor that no one will die!"

"Oh, save the theatrics for someone who actually cares," Monojoker snickered, "With that all out of the way, I hope you all get comfortable, you'll need it…."

With a flick of his non existent fingers, the bear disappeared from sight like an evil trickster, minus the smokescreen effects.

"What d-do we d-do?" Cherika thought, trying to calm down, "Are we really g-going to k-kill each other?"

"I don't know…" I told her, trying to hide my fear of this situation, "For now, maybe we should find some place to rest first."

"O-Okay…" she nodded.

We both walked away from the plaza circle with more questions left unsolved and a lingering sense of worry and doubt in the air. Some were busy fiddling with their Monopads while others went off in their separate directions, Banri being the only one who didn't seem to understand what was going on from his confused look.

"Where is everyone going?" Banri looked around, "Oh well, Dahahahaha!"

He ran off to god knows where as my sister and I explored more of the carnival.

What is going on? Why are we here? Who is that bear? Why was he dressed like that? Was this Mr. Yanagi's idea of helping us? Why isn't he here and where is the staff in this place? Why did this bear choose us specifically?

As the sun started to set, one thing was for certain. It seemed this was preordained to happen from the start. But for what purpose, I don't know…..fate's a finicky mistress indeed.

* * *

 **Danganronpa: Laughable Rejects**

* * *

Clovers fall from the sky like petals in the wind, landing and scattering around a circle shaped from red and silver patterned horseshoes. A person stands idly inside of said circle as a star-shaped comet flies around them. They are entranced by the comet, which spills out golden coins as a person jumps out from the circle and the coins spell out the person's name: Starring: **Ekichirou Yoshirenku**. And underneath that: **(English VA: Max Mittelman / Japanese VA: Shimazaki Nobunaga)**

As the boy leaves the circle, another person can be seen in the distance. They too are standing in a circle, however this one is framed with salt that was spilled with a container on the floor. She's holding an open umbrella, trying to avoid the rain above her. As she exits the circle, a black cat crosses her path, hissing at her as she trips underneath an open ladder. It falls over just as the boy grabs her out of the way. The ladder falls on the salt, spelling out the girl's name. It reads: **Cherika Yoshirenku**. And underneath that: **(English VA: Michelle Ruff / Japanese VA: Kana Hanazawa)**

The salt blows away and forms into silver stars and a crescent moon. The moon beams down on a table, where a magical crystal ball floats. A sense of mystery and aura fills the area as sparkling glitter flies around, and the crystal ball reveals faint letters in swirly black ink. A pair of white gloves appear over the ball and fly around it in a whimsical fashion, the hands focusing their energy on it as distant mumbling could be heard. Some words appear inside the crystal ball and swish around. It reads: **Nashi Akira**. And underneath that: **(English VA: Erica Mendez / Japanese VA: Hibiku Yamamura)**

The ball falls to the ground and lands on a soft fluffy pillow, which flattens as a trail of pastel-colored pillows follows to a large fluffy bed. It has a soft mattress, with multiple stuffed animals resting on the sides, while a girl is sleeping in the middle, her dark hair scattered all over the pillow, with pink hearts and white sheep flying above her bed. She wakes up grumpily to see people by her bedside admiring her like a goddess. She scoffs, throwing some pillows at them as the feathers fly out and hit them in the face while she goes back to sleep. The feathers land on the ground spelling a name. It reads: **Tsukae Shinzou**. And underneath that: **(English VA: Natalie Lander / Japanese VA: Maho Tomita)**

The feathers fly away and bundle up, forming dark green scales to reveal a large fire-breathing dragon with glowing red eyes. It burns down a village as faceless people run away, scared for their lives. One hero approaches to slay the beast, covered from head to toe in metal armor, brandishing a silver sword in their right hand and a shield in their left. The dragon flies toward the hero, breathing fire as the hero protects themselves with their shield, advancing slowly. The mystical creature screeches as it stomps on the ground. The hero jumps up and slices its neck, severing it from its body as blood drips from the fatal wound. The hero however hurted themselves, almost dislocating their arm, but gets swept up by the cheering crowd as the blood reveals his name. It reads: **Christopher O'Donnell**. And underneath that: **(English VA: Matthew Mercer / Japanese VA: Yuuto Uemura)**

The blood washes away as it forms a slightly red river, flowing fast like rapids. A foot splashes in the water as a girl runs away from something, however looking to be having the time of her life. She runs carefree through the jungle as angry beasts chase her around. She jumps into the raging river and swims away, giggling and waving goodbye to the beasts. She then grabs a fish and catches a vine as she swings out of the river and lands on a tree branch. She climbs further into the tree as leaves rustle and fall to the ground, revealing the girl's name. It reads: **Shiho Mukai**. And underneath that: **(English VA: Jad Saxton / Japanese VA: Kaori Ishihara)**

The leaves blow away and brush against a metal trash can, which rattles back and forth, almost as if something had come alive inside of it. Some black garbage bags are thrown against the can as they knock it over, a person stumbling out. The person flies out of the garbage can, rolls down a hill and lands into a dumpster. They raise their head out of it, covered in trash and other unsanitary leftovers, a banana peel slipping off of their head as they jump out of it and leave a muddy trail of dirty boot footsteps. The footsteps left behind spell out a name. It reads: **Gabriel Mudd**. And underneath that: **(English VA: Cole Howard / Japanese VA: Yoshimasa Hosoya)**

The boot prints change into single music notes as they fly around the scene. They sing in perfect harmony as white lines appear behind these melodious notes and their harmonious tune. The white lines trail back to scattered papers resting on the floor, on which musical notes are written as well as the name of a song. It has a catchy beat to them as you can see someone writing with no stop in sight. The words fly off of their pencil, flowing like a river as more and more paper flies around the room and land on the floor. The person then compiles the song words, clips them together and heads off as one piece of paper reads their name. It reads: **Shion Ninomiya**. And underneath that: **(English VA: Alexis Tipton / Japanese VA: Tomomi Ogawa)**

The words jump off the paper as they form into question marks, surrounding a person who is jumping in and out of the encircling marks while doing all sorts of handstands and flips, almost like an acrobat. They laugh loudly and almost crazily as it echoes throughout the room. The question marks fly away as the mysterious figure lands on top of a building. They scream at the top of their lungs as they punch a hole into the roof, crashing into the top floor as the rubble and debris smash to the ground. The leftover debris spell out the name of the mysterious daredevil. It reads: **Banri Gingka**. And underneath that: **(English VA: Justin Briner / Japanese VA: Yuki Kaji)**

The boy begins to smell the strong scent of smoke. Without any regrets in his mind, he boldly jumps out of the window as the building is slowly lit on fire. A blazing ember scatters throughout the complex's floors and paper thin walls. A figure can be seen in the center of the fiery inferno. They giggle mischievously, dancing and skipping around the flames and playing with a canister of lighter fluid with a lighter in the other hand. They continue to sprinkle more fluid onto the floor and light the lighter. Entranced by the small fire, a devious smile forms upon the person's face as they set the trail ablaze and leave the building, the trail of fire reading their name. It reads: **Hotaru Ikeru**. And underneath that: **(English VA: Stephanie Sheh / Japanese VA: Ayana Taketatsu)**

The fires get higher and higher as they transition into smaller fires seen atop a gas stove. A metal kettle is placed on the stovetop as a person fiddles with the bag on their waist. They grab a small packet of tea leaves from it, then resting some mugs on a table as the boiling water whistles inside of the kettle. They pour water into each mug, the color of each one changing depending on the different tea leaves placed inside of them. The person grabs a cup and, inside it, the tea leaves form the person's name. It reads: **Asahi Fujioka**. And underneath that: **(English VA: Greg Chun / Japanese VA: Satoshi Hino)**

The other teacups spill as the liquid transitions into a fizzy clear liquid inside of a plastic bottle. Alongside it, bags of opened chips, candies and other snacks are resting on the floor. Loud pinging noises could be heard from above as a hand reaches down, grabs a chip from the bag and puts it inside of their mouth. The person seems intensely focused on what appears to be a competitive video game. They're wearing a headset and are giving tips to other people next to them. The team gets a victory win and they cheer and high five each other. The words on the TV screen read the strategist's name. It reads **Ayano Akatsuka**. And underneath that: **(English VA: Leah Clark / Japanese VA: Chinatsu Akasaki)**

The codes on the screen turn a light green color and form a line that moves infrequently on a screen. It's a heart rate monitor and, beside it, a person helps another stay alive inside of a moving ambulance. They pump on the victim's chest with a look of annoyance, clearly not interested in saving them, but doing it out of obligation. They put an oxygen mask over the person's face as the ambulance makes it to the hospital. The person rushes the patient to an emergency room where the family is waiting. The family hugs the person for saving their relative's life and hand him a flower bouquet and a card with their name on it. It reads: **Itsuki Ogasawara**. And underneath that: **(English VA: Robert McCollum / Japanese VA: Daisuke Ono)**.

He tosses the flowers inside of a trash can. One flower falls off the stem and lands on top of a person's outfit, which is very colorful and obnoxious. The person wearing it has a huge red smile on their face, which is covered in white face paint. Despite their clear disdain for this, they pretend to laugh and smile as little children dance merrily around them and play games with them. The person begins juggling before getting hit on the head with a ball as the kids boo them. Switching to balloon animals, the balls fall to the ground and spell out the person's name. It reads: **Chihaya Sato**. And underneath that: **(English VA: Amanda Celine Miller / Japanese VA: Sora Amamiya)**

The balloon animals and juggling balls fall and land on top of a golden scale; a judgement scale at that. The balls outweigh the balloons as the room is revealed to be a courtroom containing two people arguing back and forth. One person gestures elegantly as the other crosses their arm and smirks at their opponent. They both face off against each other as the hooded judge raises and slams their gavel to get their attention. They both stop in their tracks as the girl presents a piece of paper and states the defendant's reason for committing the crime. Signed in cursive letters at the bottom is her name. It reads: **Galiana Al Earnestine**. And underneath that: **(English VA: Colleen Clickenbeard / Japanese VA: Shizuka Itou)**

Her opponent counters her claim and presents his findings to the court. He is full of confidence, a smile forming on his face as the judge grants his objection and proves the prosecution's case is inadmissible. Satisfied with their work and the innocent verdict, they shake hands with their client as he receives a handsome paycheck. He opens the letter and receives the check with the client's name signed at the bottom near his own name and a huge sum of money. It reads: **Daiko Hakazi**. And underneath that: **(English VA: Johnny Yong Bosch / Japanese VA: Kaito Ishikawa)**

He deposits his check at the bank. The scene shifts as it is handed off to another person, the paper now reading chemical formulas as well as mathematical equations, all neatly written in complex text. The person rests the paper on the table as they fiddle around with colorful chemicals and write down thesis statements onto the paper. They continue with their experiment, taking a sample of it and testing it on a lab rat. The rat reacts wildly to the formula as the chemicals on the table boil and fizzle out, encompassing the room in white smoke that forms the scientist's name. It reads: **Aki Sasaki**. And underneath that: **(English VA: Carina Reeves / Japanese VA: Fumiko Orikasa)**

The smoke dissipates as a figure appears from the fog cloud. Clad in a dark hood, the figure jumps out of it and lands inside of a jewelry store. The figure spots about four masked men with guns looting gems, necklaces and other accessories. They act without hesitation as they grab a thief from behind and slam them into a glass cabinet. Before another one can aim their gun at the masked hero, they appear behind said thief, disarming them with a twist of their arm and taking the gun for themselves. They throw the gun away as he distracts the other goon and grabs him by the crotch, lifting him up and tossing him at the other thief, both crashing into a large glass case as pearls and gems fly everywhere. The hooded figure escapes as the police arrive to arrest the thieves, the pearls on the floor spelling out the vigilante's name. It reads: **Norio Kuromiya**. And underneath that: **(English VA: Gideon Emery / Japanese VA: Takashi Kondou)**

The hooded figure leaves the scene, making a run for it. The running noises get louder as more footsteps can be heard in the distance. It seems there is a marathon being held where there are thousands of people running to reach the goal mark. Sweat and tears fill the street as people moan and groan from the arduous run, only to find more hurdles in their way. They stop to a halt and see that one person is at full speed, jumping over each hurdle with little to no effort. Her graceful jumps and running seems almost hypnotic as she runs to the finish line with the other runners fumbling over the hurdles. She passes the finish line and wins the prize. Confetti fills the air as she is given a trophy with her name on it. It reads: **Shannon Akahoshi**. And underneath that: **(English VA: Brianna Knickerbocker / Japanese VA: Rie Kugimiya)**

The rainbow confetti transforms into magical beams of light as a stage appears in front of a large crowd filled with screaming teenage girls. Their crying and wailing is drowned out by loud blaring music that is mixed with techno beats and catchy rhythms. On the brightly lit stage, a person dances and sings along to the music. A few backup dancers are dancing behind the figure as girls scream even louder and throw their clothes and fan merch at him, saying they love him and they want to have his babies. As the song stops, the audience applauds and chants the singer's name. He blows them kisses as they all faint and hit the ground. The beams of light blind everyone as he heads off stage and escapes the crowd. A giant board on the top of the stage reads the singer's name. It reads: **Hibiki Miyamoto**. And underneath that: **(English VA: Austin Tindle / Japanese VA: Nobuhiko Okamoto)**

The beams of light splash onto a white page like paint, dripping with color and a rich hue. The white page turns into an electronic canvas as brush strokes of different colors swipe across the screen. A digital pen glides across the glass effortlessly, brushing more paint strokes and forming an abstract-like piece. The vivacious colors and contrasting textures and shades compliment each other to give off a warm feeling. The final picture is a kaleidoscopic picturesque image of traditional inking and modern art. The painter signs their name underneath the painting. It reads **Jun Nousagi**. And underneath that: **(English VA: Julianne Alexander / Japanese VA: Atsumi Tanezaki)**

More scribbles are inscribed as the artwork falls apart into colorful graphs and statistics written in the most convoluted and formal handwriting ever seen. The words are cumbersome and hard to read out but the person writing them doesn't seem to care. Their eyes dart around the room, looking at different graphs, charts and statistics, typing in the information onto their digital pad. They are busier than a bee, moving at a brisk pace, writing documents and calculating risks and possible outcomes. More words are added onto the board as the figure circles two options and goes with the top one. They leave behind their research on the board with the other one reading their name. It reads: **Genki Ohno**. And underneath that: **(English VA: Jay Mohr / Japanese VA: Takahiro Sakurai)**

The board is flipped over to reveal a painted-on sinister smile. It curls into a devilish one as more paint splotches appear, with a black and white background forming behind the mess of color and sickly devious smile. The mechanical voice snickers and giggles, an evil jester in the shape of a innocuous plush toy. The bear is not something that will not go easy on you. It spray paints their name into the ground and disappears. It reads: **Monojoker**. And underneath that: **(English VA: Brian Beacock / Japanese VA: Tarako)**

As the credits close it ends with this message:

 **YOU DESIRE FREEDOM FROM THE SHACKLES OF SUCCESS.**

 **ENDLESS POTENTIAL DOWN THE DRAIN.**

 **THE QUESTION REMAINS, WHY?**

 **ESCAPE FROM A LIFE OF PRIVILEGE AND A BRIGHT FUTURE?**

 **OR IS THERE A MORE SELFISH REASON FOR STRUGGLING?**

 **YOUR FUTURES ENTWINED AND FATED TO FAIL.**

 **ARE YOU REALLY ASKING FOR A SECOND CHANCE?**

 **DO YOU REALLY WANT ONE?**

Welcome 84th class of HP Rejects…..we hope you enjoy your stay….endless amounts of fun and whimsy await at your doorstep….are you willing to sacrifice yourself for a new life?

You can't overwrite your destined path…..no one can….so why are you?

 **Remaining Students: 22**

* * *

Next time…..Chapter 1: Fate's a Cruel Mistress

* * *

 **A/N** : Hello hello hello everyone, it's so good to see you all again.

I'm sorry for not updating as much as I would have liked these past few weeks, I've been visiting my family due to the aftermath of the aforementioned family matter I was talking about before, so yeah.

I hope this short little chapter suffices for now, I had fun making the last intro chapter before we get straight into the meat of the story that you all signed up for. I also hope you all liked the little character intros I did for each OC, I put a lot of time and effort into making them stand out from each other and now you can imagine their VA and how they would talk.

If there are any changes you want me to make to this chapter, please let me know ASAP.

I've been pretty busy lately, now that school is crawling its way to everyone's doorstep, I've had less time to work on the stories and I promise they aren't going anywhere, I'm just a little strapped for time and most of the time I don't feel to write with how life is going for me right now. I'm glad you all put up with my infrequent uploads and I have to say you all deserve medals for sticking with me this far into my series.

I hope you all loved the new addition to the Monokuma trope. Meet Monojoker, he will be our token overseer of the game and I hope you guys like him, I wanted to spice up his design a bit and I hope it's good X3.

As of right now I will be working on chapter one and the case, so it might take me some time to plan it out properly, so bare with me guys XD.

That's all I have right now to say, I hope you all enjoyed this little snippet of a chapter and I can't wait to get this story started. I hope to do your characters justice and it pains me to off one of these amazing OC but I have to as per DR law.

I hope you all have a lovely day, night, holiday or whatever it is you celebrate! I will see you all later and whenever I decide to upload next.

Happy reading my fellow readers, authors and otaku alike. Bye bye!


	6. Chapter 0: Underneath the Circus Tent

**Editors: Lupus Overkill & Sharky**

* * *

"Do you want a part time job?" read a yellow flyer on a wooden notice board, "Are you available during after school hours?" I read this particular piece of paper on the school bulletin board. I guess someone must have put it there during lunch, since it wasn't there this morning or the day before. I don't remember if our school was against its students working part-time, but as I continued to peruse it's contents, I saw a specific detail that made me interested in this job opportunity.

"Babysitting from 4-6 PM, hourly pay of ¥2200," it detailed, which was a decent amount for part time.

"Contact us at 011-81-XX-XXXX-XXXX," listing the contact information with something else underneath, it looked to be address, "If you live within walking distance of our neighborhood, look for the name plate 'Nakamura' in front of a brownish red brick two story building."

I looked at the flyer, grabbed a small piece of paper from the already snipped ones with the phone number printed on and stuffed it into my backpack. My sister and I were desperate for a part-time job, anything that paid well or gave out minimum wage. We both wanted to buy the sequel to the 'Fandanranpo' video game series, ever since the company announced that it was getting a sequel called 'Fandanranpo 2: County Of Misery'. It's a franchise we loved so much and everyone online, from Chirper to Viewtube, were raving about the new cast of characters and how the entire setting of the new game had it taking place ten years after the events of the first one. Needless to say, we were both hyped and itching to play the game ever since it was released to the public.

However, our parents, despite us doing our chores and not being disobedient whatsoever, didn't really seem to care about our passion for the series. Sometimes when they did acknowledge us, they said they weren't going to pay for it, unless we got our grades up, otherwise we were stuck covering our ears of spoilers and such. While I had no trouble getting good grades, Cherika was very unfortunate when it came to keeping her average up. While she was stellar in Art class, whereas I couldn't draw stick figures to save my life, I was pretty good with every other subject, bar math which the both of us could agree on was our least favorite subject to study.

I slid open the door to our classroom and walked over her, sitting near a window seat and doodling in her sketchbook. She seemed content, her pencil flying effortlessly off the page and a small smile residing on her face. The classroom was empty, except for the class rep and the two of us, they were busy dusting off the chalkboard while I sat in front of my sister's desk and rested my backpack off to the side.

"Hey, sis," I waved to her, closing the door behind me, "I think I found a way for us to earn money after school!"

"O-Oh… r-really? That's c-cool, Kichi," she mumbled, closing her sketch book and taking the piece of paper from my hand, "S-So what's the job e-entail?"

"It's just a babysitting one!" I responded excitedly, "They even pay really well too!"

"That's a-amazing, I've n-never done b-babysitting before, sounds f-fun!" she looked at the paper closely, her eyes almost bulging out of the sockets, "I-Is this Nakamura's number!?"

"Oh you know the name?" I asked, sitting down next to her, "Are they a student here? I've never met them."

"Y-Yes… Souji Nakamura, c-captain of the s-soccer team," she blushed, twirling her hair nervously, "H-He's in my art class… our e-easels are n-next to each other… h-he says he likes my drawings…"

The look on her face said it all, she had a crush on him. Her cheeks were flushed a pinkish red color like a bright red tomato, and she was nervously wriggling around in her chair, her expression that of tipsy delight. Even though we were siblings, I'd never seen her so starstruck or lovesick before. Really, it was rare for me to ever see her like this, due to the amount of people bullying her due to her unnatural lack of luck and social anxiety. I watched her stare off in the distance as she looked down and giggled, her having a crush was both endearing and cute, but also made me somewhat suspicious for some reason.

"Are you sure about this, Cherry?" I asked her, worriedly, 'We could always look for another list-"

"N-No… I mean, y-yes, I want t-to do this j-job!" she spoke firmly, her expression changing from blissful whimsy to strong determination, "W-We need that money…..plus t-this might h-help me g-get to know him b-better...if I h-help babysit h-his younger s-siblings..."

Not only was her sudden crush on Souji shocking, but just seeing her so persistent with wanting to get this job, made me feel proud of her. I've never seen her so passionate about something in her life, that wasn't about art or video games, it almost felt like she was a different person altogether. I really didn't think too much of it, ruffling her hair as she pulled back from embarrassment.

"You're so dorky, sis. I'll call his home phone now," I chuckled, grabbing my phone from my bag, dialing the number and hearing it ring. "Hope this is all worth it in the end."

I waited a few minutes as it kept ringing, eagerly anticipating a call from either Souji's parents or even an answer from himself. I needed to make a good first impression over the phone, if we were ever going to get this job.

"Hello?" it picked up, as a female's voice on the other end spoke, "This is the Nakamura residence, to whom may I direct this call to?"

"Good afternoon ma'am, my name is Ekichirou Yoshirenku," I addressed her politely, "I got this number from a job flyer posted on my school's bulletin board and my sister and I are both interested. I'm calling to ask if it's still open?"

"Oh my, what excellent timing!" the woman on the other end happily remarked, "We've been struggling to find a sitter on such short notice for a while now. I'm Mrs. Nakamura and we'd be more than glad to hire you. Come around maybe tomorrow evening, if possible?"

Wow. That was easier than I thought it would be. I was half expecting to get bombarded by a load of questions right off the bat, glad to know that's not the case.

"Oh, sure!" I told her, a bit shocked by her sudden response. "Thank you very much, we'll be there as soon as school finishes, you can count on us!"

"No, thank you, young man," her voice graciously remarked, "Our address is XXX, so I hope that transportation won't be a problem?"

"No it won't, thank you very much and have a nice day, Mrs. Nakamura," I responded politely, hanging up the phone and feeling good about myself. "How unexpected."

"W-Well?" Cherika asked, eagerly awaiting a response, "I-Is it still open?"

"Looks like we got the job!" I proudly announced, almost wanting to jump for joy. "We start tomorrow afternoon!"

"Yay!" she blushed, giddy with excitement, "I'm so g-glad….I k-know we can d-do this…I h-have a good f-feeling about this."

I smiled back as she grinned happily; her lips twitched but I paid it no mind as we both left the classroom and headed for home. Neither of us expected the offer to go so smoothly. I guess my luck was persuasive enough to convince Ms. Nakamura to hire us on the spot? She did sound a bit frantic on the phone, so maybe she was in need of one. Still, her response was a bit too unexpected… maybe I'm overthinking it as usual.

The next day after school…..

As the final bell rang for the end of the school day, Cherika and I left as soon as possible and departed for the Nakamura residence. Since their home was in the same area as ours, it was easier for us to take this job, earn money in the process and arrive back home before dinner time. We changed out of our school uniforms and into our regular clothes, took a train back to our part of town and arrived to the brownish red brick building described in the flyer. The bronze nameplate read 'Nakamura' in black japanese kanji and I noticed it was a lovely little house; it had a very cozy and homely vibe to it that made me feel welcomed.

There was a blue brick wall that surrounded the area of the house with a black rectangular gate with bars in the frame, being the entrance to the front yard. Off to the left side of the house's exterior, there were a few dark green bushes near the door, with a tree with red apples hanging from the brown branches and some rotten apples festering on the ground. Each apple resting on the bright green grass was rotten and decayed, with worms slithering through every crevice and hole in each apple, probably used for compost or something. Finally there was a wooden step near the front door and a brown welcome mat with the phrase 'Welcome back!' in white letters there to dust our feet on. The overall aura of the house was very normal, but also had that caring and well presented touch to it that made it feel superior to the other houses on the block.

"Hey, K-Kichi… what's in the b-bag?" Cherika asked as we stood near the entrance.

"Oh, this?" I held up a large red shopping bag. "Just a little present for the kids, nothing special. Just wanted to make a good first impression is all."

"Ah, I see… t-that makes s-sense.." she fiddled with her coat sleeves, "I-I wish I t-thought of that…"

"Welp… let's just hope this all goes well…" I sighed, clutching the bag in my hand. "Let's go, sis."

"Sure t-thing…" she mumbled, as I opened the gate and pressed the buzzer near the front door and awaited a response, wiping our shoes on the mat beforehand, just in case.

"Are you really sure about this, Cherry?" I asked, a bit solicitous, "I mean, it's babysitting. Are we even good with kids?"

"Y-Yes…" she answered immediately, stuttering with confidence. "I w-want to prove to m-mom and d-dad that I can d-do something r-right… I can't k-keep living u-under their r-roof forever…"

I couldn't help but want to hug her for saying something like that. I was still taken aback by her newfound confidence, it's so unlike her to be so sure about anything, let alone our first real job. Maybe it's because most of us were more concerned with the outcome, rather than the job itself? Or in her case, impressing Souji with her good people skills, or something. We were both vying for the same end goal, but she wanted to get his attention, all we had to do were a few of these babysitting jobs and then we can be done with it entirely. Everyone wins.

As we continued conversing, the front door opened up wide, to reveal a middle aged woman with a smile on her face and half closed eyes. She had light brown hair tied into a ponytail that rested on the right side of her shoulder, dark brown eyes with fair white skin and she wore a simple long sleeved light blue top with a light brown floor length skirt and white socks on her feet with no shoes on.

"Oh my, you must be the boy I talked with on the phone. Ekichirou, right?" she smiled as I nodded in confirmation, "And you must be his sister, Cherika, it's very nice to meet you two. Please come inside, make yourselves at home."

We both walked inside the house, resting our outdoor shoes in the wooden cubby next to the door and walked with our socks on as we stepped onto the light brown wooden main floor.

It was a lovely home with very simple decor. The walls were painted a dark yellow, with a few potted plants resting on a brown desk and a mirror in the center of the hallway near the front door, and some family photos hanging on the walls of the corridor. I noticed a few more doors leading to multiple rooms on that floor and there was a set of wooden stairs leading to the upstairs area, with the lights turned off, presumably meaning nobody was up there at the moment.

"Would you two care for some tea?" Mrs. Nakamura asked, smiling at the two of us with closed eyes.

"No thank you, Mrs. Nakamura," I answered politely, "We're good."

"N-No thank y-you…" Cherika responded, nervously looking around the corridor and looking at the family pictures.

"Please dear, call me Inaho," she giggled playfully, "Calling me Mrs. makes me feel old, hehehe… I'm only thirty-five, sweetie."

"O-Oh… okay," I sweat dropped a little at her rapid fire comment about her title, "Alright then, Inaho…"

"Follow me, you two," she smiled, leading us down the hallway.

Mrs. Nakamura seemed amiable at the very least, so the initial impression didn't arouse any negative thoughts from me. She directed us to the door at the far end of the corridor and opened it up to reveal a room that looked similar to a living room, or maybe a family room.

It was fairly large in size and had the same color walls and flooring as the other rooms. There was what looked like an open concept kitchen with definitively expensive-looking upholstery and appliances inside from a glass door fridge, a black and white granite countertop with a metal two bed sink, multiple cookbooks lined up near the sides of the fridge and other stuff that I couldn't quite make out from first glance.

The living room area was the one that took the most of my attention. There were two cream coloured couches facing each other on opposite ends, and a flat screen TV mounted on the wall in the center between the two couches, a yellow and blue carpet on the floor underneath a glass coffee table in the center of the couches with a potted plant with blue and white marble stones surrounding the plant, a few decorative china plates in a large mahogany glass cabinet near the kitchen, an expensive looking jade green vase with intricate Japanese kanji embellished on the design, in the corner of the room on top of wooden table with a few family pictures resting on both sides of the vase. There was a black wall shelf with a few more family pictures near the mantle and around the room, a round dining table covered by a white tablecloth with about three normal sized chairs and two kiddie sized chairs. Each chair faced an end of the table and I noticed a glass vase filled with freshly cut yellow daffodils in the center of the table filled with crystal clear water resting in the middle. The floors were sparkly clean and everything looked neatly dusted and cared for.

However what seemed a bit out of place in this living room straight out of a shopping catalogue, was in the left corner of the room was a children's area of sorts. I noticed a few children's toys such as plastic tools strewn on the floor in all sorts of rainbow colors with a mini workstation full of plastic screws and other workbench related stuff. I also spotted a few dress up dolls such as Darlie figures, Japanese Gal dolls and Onion Garden Kids dolls all neatly lined up next to each other with each doll sporting a floofy dress or stylish glittery outfit. I also spotted a few coloring books with some doodles of out of the line colored drawings from popular kids brands and TV shows.

I could only assume this is where the kids play when Mr. and Mrs. Nakamura have to host guests or something. So that means they had two younger children, a boy and a girl. So a five family set up and with the house looking so immaculate, I wonder why Mrs. Nakamura would need a babysitter.

"You have a really lovely home, Mrs. Na- I mean Inaho," I told her, whistling with confidence while also remembering her pet peeve.

"Why thank you, Ekichirou dear, I try my best to keep this house neat and tidy in case guests come over," she smiled happily and clapped her hands together, "Well then, my husband and I will be off now, it's date night we hadn't had one in years, ever since the kids came around!"

"W-Wait, y-you're leaving already?" Cherika asked, evidently surprised. "S-So soon?"

"Yes, we've been planning this for a while now and since we got you two on such short notice, it all miraculously worked out in the end!" she giggled, grabbing a dark blue coat from a nearby rack and putting it over her body, "I hope that's okay?"

"I-It's fine, Mrs. Nakamura- e-excuse me, Inaho," I sighed, sweat dropping, "But where's everyone else?"

"Oh, Souji is busy with soccer practice," she mused, "He's such a good boy, if he was available, we wouldn't have hired a sitter."

"O-Oh… I see," Cherika muttered, looking rather disappointed that she couldn't see him, "T-That makes sense…"

"So who are we babysitting?" I asked resting my newspaper boy cap on the kitchen bar countertop.

"My two little twin children, Takeo and Maemi, I wonder where they ran off to?" she looked around the room, searching for her children, "Come on out you two, your sitters are here."

As if on command, we heard distinct faint noises coming from behind one of the creme couches. We spotted two heads popping up from behind the couch, a boy and a girl both looking at the three of us with a stoic gaze. They both crawled out of their hiding spots, walked over and stood close to their loving mother, kissing both of them on the foreheads.

"These are my two wonderful babies," she giggled, rubbing their small heads, "Takeo, Maemi, what do we say when we greet people?"

"Hello… it's very nice to meet you," they both said in unison, both seeming uncomfortable saying those words out loud.

"Aren't they precious?" Mrs. Nakamura beamed another bright white smile, "Don't tell Souji, but these two are my favorites, okay dears," she then gave the both of us a wink.

Her overbearing kindness and forced smiles, almost creeped me out with how twitchy she felt. If this is how she greeted regular guests, I'd be just as frightened as the twins right now. While she kept babbling about how perfect her twins were, I took a look at what each twin looked like.

The boy, Takeo, had short black messy hair with hazel green eyes and was the same height as his sister. He wore a cyan blue shirt with a white and black soccer ball on the front and baggy brown pants with no shoes on his feet. From his very carefree appearance, the mess by the tool station made a lot more sense.

His sister Maemi, in contrast, had short light brown hair like her mother styled in a pixie cut look, with chocolate brown eyes and was a bit more petite than her brother. She wore a salmon red top with a pretty pink ballerina dancing on the front, with a pink tutu like skirt on her waist and no shoes on her feet either.

"It's very nice to meet you two," I bent over to greet them, "If you need anything you can tell us and we'd be happy to oblige."

"Y-Yeah," Cherika bent over and greeted them as well, "I-I'll do my b-best too.."

"Kids, say thank you, to Ekichirou and Cherika," Inaho told them, ruffling their hair some more.

"Thank you Mister Eki and Miss Cherry," Maemi responded courteously, curtseying like a ballerina.

"Yeah, thanks," Takeo responded, slightly dejected, tugging at the ends of his shirt.

"Okay, you two, here's the plan," Mrs. Nakamura clapped her hands and let go of her children, "Play with them, feed them; dinner is in the fridge, make sure they bathe before going to bed and make sure they go to bed before 9 PM, alright?"

"Got it," I noted down her instructions mentally, "Anything else we should take note of?"

"Hmm… not really, once you get these two to bed, you can do whatever you want. You can watch TV, eat anything out of the fridge; but don't touch my leftover chocolate cake, and don't break anything in the living room. And don't even touch the flowers in the backyard, it takes me hours tending them and I don't feel like buying new ones."

"A-Alright…" Cherika answered, "Thank you…"

"No, no, thank you…" she smiled, kissing her kids on the head once more and waving to us, heading out the door, "I won't be long you two!" she blew them air kisses.

After she left, there was a rather long awkward pause that encompassed the room. My sister and I stared at the twins listlessly. We didn't know what to do or what to say, so I decided to pull out the item I bought the other day and surprise them with it.

"I have something for you two," I stood up, grabbing the shopping bag and pulling something out from it, "It's a very large, fluffy teddy bear!

To be honest, I wasn't too good with what kids these days liked so I went with a unisex toy that both of them would probably enjoy. It was one of those large teddy bears you'd get from a carnival, with caramel brown fur, a red ribbon wrapped around its' neck with beady black eyes and black buttons on it's white stomach.

"Ooh…" Maemi looked at the bear with wide eyes, "He looks so cute, thank you Mr. Eki!"

"You're welcome," I handed over the stuffed toy to her, while her brother looked rather jealous that he didn't get anything.

"W-Where did you get that?" Cherika asked me worriedly.

"I've been doing odd jobs on the side," I responded, "Nothing much really, might as well impress the kids while I'm at it."

"That's kind of creepy, K-Kichi…"

"Anyways," I turned to the twins, ignoring my sister's comment, "What do you two like to do for fun around here?"

Takeo shrugged us off, "Nothing much… sports, I guess."

"Fashion, dolls, cute things," Maemi listed her likes in order, "Anything pink."

"I-I see…" Cherika nervously sweat dropped, "S-Sounds like f-fun."

They both nodded at us, staring indifferently almost like two motionless robots, before heading over to their play area. Takeo played with his monster truck toys and crashed them into other cars whereas Maemi took the stuffed bear and played tea party with her dolls.

"Okay then…good talk, kids," I sighed, resting my hands on my hips. "I guess they're preoccupied for now…?"

"S-Should we do our h-homework in the m-meantime?" Cherika wondered, tugging at her coat sleeves, "I'm h-having trouble w-with this one social studies q-question."

"Sure. Let me help you with that," I replied, grabbing my bookbag, pulling out the homework from today and taking out the necessary textbooks.

For the most part, it was very quiet and serene in the home. Takeo and Maemi were both playing with their respective toys while I helped Cherry with her homework. Maybe this job would turn out to be easier than we originally thought? Who knew babysitting was this easy?

"Did you translate this sentence into English?" I asked, moving onto our English homework, "It should read this."

"Not y-yet..." she mumbled, eyeing the paper unsure of her answers, "I need my English to Japanese dictionary…"

Cherika rummaged through her bookbag and kept fumbling around with it, she took out some other books and kept looking for her dictionary. She seemed quite upset that she couldn't find it from the worried expression plastered on her face.

"Umm...I c-can't find it…" she mumbled, "I t-think I left it a-at school.."

That's right… we had that class last period today, she must have forgotten to pack it due to our excitement.

"I have mine with me," I reached into my bag and rummaged around for it, "That's odd….I swear I had it with me when I packed it…"

I arose from my seat and perused my bag for the book, hoping that it was buried underneath a pile of old test sheets or notebooks.

"I-Is that it?" Cherika pointed over to where the twins were.

I looked over to the play area and saw Takeo with my dictionary and doodling over it with his crayons.

"No no, Takeo," I rushed over to grab it, taking it from him, "I need that for school… here's a colouring book, instead?" I handed a colouring book to him.

"I don't want it," he slapped the book out of my hand, "You're mean, meanie."

"I'm sorry, Takeo," I apologized, "Do you want to play with something else?

"No!" he yelled into my ear, "You took it from me and thieves get punished."

"Thief?" I asked quizzically, not sure what he meant, before getting greeted with a toy gun to my face. "Let's just calm down here.."

Takeo didn't seem interested hearing me out as I was assaulted by a barrage of styrofoam orange bullets.

"Oww!" I yelped as he kept shooting the bullets at me, "Hey, cut it out, Takeo."

"Punish the criminals! Punish evildoers!" he chanted as he kept reloading his gun and shot at me randomly, almost taking my eye out.

Once he ran out of bullets, I caught my breath as I noticed Cherika walk over to Maemi and knelt down to play with her.

"S-So Maemi… w-what d-do you w-want to play?" she asked the toddler.

"Hmm...how about dress-up?" she smiled, brushing some light brown hair out of her face, "I also want to do your makeup as well, Miss Cherry!"

"O-Oh… okay," she remarked, a bit surprised by what she said, "I-If you want…"

With her approval, Maemi hopped over to another part of the room, where she grabbed a clear plastic bag filled with makeup supplies and brushes and grabbed some needle, thread and scissors.

"U-Um what are you d-doing, Mae?" Cherika asked the girl as she rested her supplies on her playtable.

"Since none of my clothes will fit you, I'll just make you some clothes!" she happily chirped, "I also borrowed mommy's makeup kit when she wasn't looking!"

Hearing that made me very worried for my sister's safety. I mean, it was supposed to be a harmless game of dress-up and make-up, what could go wrong there?

"Found you!" Takeo giggled mischievously, pumping his toy gun.

"Oh no…" I sweat dropped, moving from my hiding spot and running out as fast as I could as Takeo kept shooting bullets at me.

I caught a glimpse of what Maemi was doing with Cherry. Needless to say it was like a fashion nightmare. It seemed Maemi coloured in pieces of paper; mainly decorated in hideous shades of pink and used magenta string to stitch them together as she tossed it around Cherika as if she were a Christmas tree.

"I-Isn't t-this c-cute…" Cherika made a small smile, trying to adjust her arms through the paper holes in her paper suit.

"Now for the make-up, you're gonna look so pretty!" Maemi beamed, grabbing a very thick red lipstick and smearing it on Cherry's lips, overdrawing them like a clown's mouth.

"Caught you!" Takeo shouted, shooting more bullets as I ducked.

He kept firing rapid fire bullets as it started hitting stuff around the room. Family pictures fell of the wall and cracked onto the floor, some of the bullets hit the china plate cabinet and some of them even missed the jade vase.

"Uh oh… you're in trouble," Takeo giggled mischievously.

"W-What did I do?" I asked, feeling unfairly treated by a toddler, "Your bullets caused this mess."

"Nuh-uh, if you weren't running around, I wouldn't have missed," he pouted, sticking his tongue out at me.

Was I getting told off by a kid? What has my life come to? Hopefully Cherika is having better luck with the other kid than I was. As Takeo collected his bullets, I went over to the girls and saw that Maemi was dabbing rouge blush onto my sister's face.

"How's it going ladies?" I walked over and asked, catching my breath from all the action.

"Good, Mister Eki," Maemi giggled playfully, "Time to see how Miss Cherry looks now, doesn't she look pretty!"

Cherika turned around and what I saw nearly made me jump out of fear and shock. Not only was she covered in gaudy pink paper made clothes, but her face and hair were altered beyond recognition. Red lipstick was smeared over her mouth and extended to her cheeks, white powder and what appears to be a nude creme foundation were splattered unevenly on her face, there was heavy rouge blush on her cheeks, her eyes were messily lined with thick black eyeshadow, mascara and liner. She looked like a makeup artist's worst nightmare or some weird amalgamated painting you'd see in an art gallery.

"H-Hey…" she cut herself off with a cough, "...Kichi," with some white powder coming out of her mouth, "H-How do I l-look?"

"Um…" I hesitantly stuttered, grabbing a nearby mirror and giving it to her.

She took the kids hand mirror and once she took a look at herself in the mirror, her once happy expressions changed to that of upset worry.

"O-Oh my g-god!?" she freaked out, touching her makeup, "I look l-like a c-clown…"

She kept perusing her new look in the mirror as I turned over to Maemi, who was busy snickering mischievously to herself. I also spotted a lot of mess and fallout from the make-up. White foundation powder was dusted across the floor, liquid eyeliner spilt onto the carpet; oozing out black liquid, lipstick stains were swatched onto the once clean yellow wall and the blush was all over the table.

"AAAAHH!" Cherika screamed, "M-My hair!?"

"What is it?" I headed over to her and looked at what she was looking at, then noticing it as well.

It seemed that a strand of her brown hair was cut short on one side of her head and the other side wad dyed with some weird pink hair dye. I started to get even more worried and frustrated as Cherika started to well up with tears.

"What did you do?" I asked Maemi, politely holding back my frustration.

"What? I just made her pretty is all," she giggled mischievously, an evil smile plastered on her face, "It's probably an upgrade at this point, she's so ugly."

Hearing a child, let alone someone I initially thought was polite, say those words made my blood boil. My sister and I have been nothing but nice to these children, and they decide to attack us and cause such a mess.

"Hey, Mister! Catch!" Takeo's voice called out.

I turned my head and noticed him carrying a large red ball, aiming it directly at me. As he tossed it my way, I managed to avoid it by a close shave as it bounced against the wall and hit the stand next to the vase. The vase then toppled near the edge and fell over, making a loud shattering noise onto the floor.

"Uh oh…" we all said in unison.

"Mommy is going to be so mad," Maemi stood in awe.

"Yeah, super duper mad!" Takeo snickered, running over to his sister's side.

Before any of us could process what happened, we heard a car pull up in the driveway.

Oh.

Well.

Crap.

Were Mr. and Mrs. Nakamura home early? They're going to see this mess and see the kids still up. I needed to think fast or else this was going to get ugly.

"W-What do we d-do, Kichi…?" Cherika started to panic, her face turning a nervous red color.

I didn't have time to register what was going on, as I glanced over to the twins and noticed something that made my skin crawl. Instead of them looking distraught over the mess in the room, the looks on their faces was that of pure malice.

Takeo and Maemi both shared evil looking grins; from ear to ear, their smiles were enough to make a grown man shiver. The started laughing mischievously, pointing fingers at us and their eyes went from round and cute, to pointed and sharp, losing all the life in them.

Then as soon as the door to the living room opened up, as if on cue, the kids started fake crying and hugging each other, acting as if they were innocent victims in this entire mess.

"I'm ho-" Ms. Nakamura's startling voice called out, "What?…MY LIVING ROOM! WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED HERE?!"

"M-mommy!" the twins ran over to her, "T-These bad sitters… t-t-they… d-did this…"

"Is that so? It's going to be okay, my babies," she comforted them as they hugged her skirt, "You two, get your asses over here now!"

We didn't hesitate as we made our way over to her. She was steaming mad, her face was furious, a scowl on her face, accompanied with furrowed brows and tapping her foot endlessly.

"Explain yourselves, did you two do this!?" she screamed at us, making the loudest and shrillest scream.

"No, we didn't," I insisted firmly, unable to take anymore nonsense from this wayward family, "We were busy doing our homework, when your children decided to use us as human targets, your son started shooting his bullets at me and broke a few of your pictures and vase."

"H-He's lying, m-mommy.." Takeo sniffled, his voice trembling with fear, "He broke it and then blamed it on me."

Cherika was trembling and shaking like a leaf, she was too anxious and scared to stand up for herself as Inaho kept grilling us for information.

"That l-lady… she s-spilled your makeup..m-mommy," Maemi cried, wetting her mother's skirt with crocodile tears.

"It's alright, sweetie," Inaho kissed her on the forehead, "You two better stop lying and blaming my children, or else I'm calling the police!"

I see how it was. These little brats could spout lies so brazenly and their foolish mother would be none the wiser. No wonder we were the only ones to take this job, these children are an absolute nightmare duo and spoiled to boot. I tried my best to hold back my fury, then I snapped, my inner morality knew no limits and I looked gravely at the mother and her children.

"I see… so that's how you two want to play this game…" I bent my head down and my voice sounded grave, "I have something to show you, Mrs. Nakamura."

"What is it?" she curiously asked, raising an eyebrow and crossing her arms,

I walked over to the kiddy area, grabbing the stuffed teddy bear and presented it to the mother.

Time to Deus Ex Machina these brats.

"Inside of this stuffed bear is a hidden camera," I angrily replied, taking off the back of the bear and showing the insides, "I had my doubts, but I had a feeling something like this would happen… so I turned it on and, luckily for you, Maemi was holding onto the bear the entire time."

"Now, is it? Really! Let me see this footage," Mrs. Nakamura asked, grabbing the bear and pulling out a flash drive like device from it.

I was too riled up and angry for words, I glared over towards the twins and their once sad demeanors evaporated like water to reveal something that made me somewhat happy inside….fear. They both started sweating bullets and their flushed cheeks turned pale almost instantly with fright.

Mrs. Nakamura took the flashdrive, grabbed her laptop from behind the counter and inserted it inside as she scrolled through some files. She clicked on something and something began playing on the monitor.

At this point, Cherika was a quivering mess. She was on the floor, holding back tears and her make-up started dripping down her face. I was still too infuriated to cheer her up, but I knelt down and started rubbing her back to comfort her. At this point, I didn't care if we got paid or if she even believed us or not, we were wronged and those brats tried to frame us for their pranks. Some would call it petty to prove moral superiority over kindergartners. I prefer to call it just desserts.

"Takeo… Maemi…" Inaho closed the laptop and rested it to the side, her face presenting a calm countenance.

"Y-Yes mommy?" they both said in unison, shaking nervously.

"You two are grounded! For two months!" her eye twitched and her smile faded into a frown, "You two will come home straight after school, homework and then to bed. No friends coming over to play, no dessert after dinner and I'm taking away all your toys!"

"B-But mommy!" Maemi cried, acting like the victim, "W-We just w-wanted to have f-fun…"

"Y-Yeah… we didn't m-mean to break your stuff," Takeo half heartedly apologized, looking down at his feet.

"I don't want to hear your excuses! Not only did you two destroy half of the living room," she detailed, continuing to stare them down mercilessly, "But you made your generous sitters waste their time to babysit you two and worst of all… you lied to me, your loving mother who's done nothing but give you the world!"

At this point, the twins didn't have words to justify their bold and mischievous actions. Their mother was boiling mad and it seemed she was ready to pop a vein with how livid she was.

"You two, go to bed, now!" she yelled at them, as they headed off to their rooms, crying along the way and bawling their eyes out.

Mrs. Nakamura sighed, rubbing her temples in frustration. "Ekichirou, Cherika," she called us over, "I'm sorry for all of this… I was rash and judged too early… I apologize on behalf of my family."

"It's perfectly alright, Inaho," I explained, calming down and relieved she was being reasonable, "We're sorry for not keeping them under control."

"Y-Yeah… s-sorry…" Cherika wriggled around and played with her coat sleeves.

"You two don't need to apologize, my children were in the wrong and I was too quick to ask for a sitter," she stood up from her seat and sighed. "Looks like I'll have to parent those two better if they've been doing this behind my back the entire time."

The fact she was on our side was reassuring to hear. While she does have a nasty shrill shriek, she's just trying her best to be a good parent, albeit pampering her children a bit too much. Cherika was starting to loosen up a bit more and stopped shaking, panting and breathing so slowly.

"In return for your service, here's ten thousand yen for your troubles," she grabbed her purse and pulled out yen dollar notes, handing them to me.

"A-Are you sure, Inaho?" I asked, baffled by the generous amount, "W-We can't take this...after what's happened."

"There's no need to be humble sweetie, consider it a gift," she smiled, patting me on the shoulder. "Would you two like some chocolate cake to take home as well?"

Our eyes both lit up with excitement as Mrs. Nakamura went over to the fridge and rewarded us with the cake she told us not to touch. In that moment, I felt happy and somewhat glad, not only did those children got what came to them, but we stood our ground, with a little assistance, and were able to prove our innocence.

As we took home the chocolate cake and waved goodbye to Mrs. Nakamura, my sister and I watched as the night sky covered the area and street lights illuminated our path. We walked home, feeling both accomplished and glad that we got some experience working, even under poor circumstances.

"T-The camera in the bear was really convenient, huh?" she noted.

"Maybe, but you know what this means, sis?" I smiled at her.

Her face suddenly lit up with realization. "Fandanranpo, here w-we come!" she cheered joyfully, a smile formed on her makeup ridden face. "Hey Kichi… Kichi…

* * *

Kichi… Kichi…?" Cherika shook me, waking me up from my trance. It seemed I dozed off again from lack of sleep.

"Oh uh...sorry sis," I rubbed my eyes tiredly, "Just a little tired, all this excitement is getting to my head."

"S-Same.." she meekly trembled, "Is t-there anywhere for us t-to rest our b-bags?"

That did seem like a number one priority at the moment. We still didn't have a clue as to what was going on with this abandoned circus, nor did we see anyone from the Reverse Revival Program in sight, not even a representative or even Mr. Yanagi himself, which was very odd.

On top of all the excitement, Monojoker, the self-proclaimed host of this event, claimed to be sent by Mr. Yanagi himself, which in of itself was very hard to believe. Thinking about it for a second, why was that bear mascot the only thing the program present? Why was there no one else around who looked like an adult that worked there? Why an abandoned carnival?

"There are so many things to discuss….so sleepy, maybe we'll find out tomorrow," I yawned loudly, stretching my arms out, "Where are we supposed to sleep, let alone rest our luggage?"

"I can help with that!" Monojoker answered, jumping out from nowhere, "You kiddos feeling exhausted already, typical lazy millennials?"

"Y-Yes…s-sort of," Cherika mumbled, sticking close to me, "Is there a-anywhere for us t-to spend the n-night?"

"What a fantastic question, Cherry!" the paint splotched bear chirped, "Follow me darlings, I'll lead you both to your tents, right this way."

"Tents?" I questioned, unsure of what the bear was referring to, "Why are you taking us to circus tents?"

"I'm glad you asked, Kichi," Monojoker giggled, "In fitting with the theme of this abandoned carnival, why not go all out and modify some old tents to suit you hormonal teens' needs and desires, plus it's rather fitting that you freaks live in tents."

"W-What does that m-mean?" Cherika asked the bear, dusting off her sweater, "F-Freaks?"

"Simply put, your rooms are custom fitted to act as your dorm rooms or areas of stay," the bear pointed over in the distance, "See those large tents over there, I made twenty-one tents for all you lovely rejects, you should be thankful I was so thoughtful and forward thinking."

"Wait twenty-one? There are twenty-two of us here?" I raised an eyebrow, counting on my fingers, "So two people are sharing a tent in that case?"

"I mean it should be obvious who gets the same tent, doofus," Monojoker facepalmed, "Obviously you and sister are sharing the same tent."

"Oh…" I sweat dropped, I guess that made sense, "Nevermind…"

"I t-think that s-seems fine.." Cherika agreed, nodding her head, "We d-did share the s-same bedroom for many y-years."

"I know…" I thought about it for a second, "It's nothing…just wanted clarification is all."

To be honest, I didn't really think bunking would really be that problematic or anything like that. I more so thought that us living in the same vicinity as everyone else and this weird looking bear only reinforced some weird gut feeling inside of me. I guess it's just me being overly paranoid and fearful of what's to come, since we were promised one thing but got something else entirely different.

I still couldn't take what this bear was saying seriously, even after everything that has happened so far today. Monojoker was the only clue we'd ever found that related to what was going on and somehow I was still left with more questions than answers. Was he some sort of mascot or promotional figure or something? If so, Mr. Yanagi had a twisted sense of humor if he dressed up this animatronic doll, to act like some friendly overseer meant to be our pseudo host through this entire program.

"Here we are you two," Monojoker smiled, escorting us to a large tent that looked like a mini version of one, "Welcome to your temporary home away from home!"

We both observed the tent as the afternoon light peaked over some of the mountains, an orange glow emanated down upon the abandoned carnival as dusk seemed to be approaching steadily.

The exterior of the tent had this split striped pattern down the middle of it, with the right side being a white and green color and the left side a red and grey color; almost as if the color scheme mocked my sister and I's sense of fashion. The tent was nailed into the ground and the sides were laced with brown sturdy rope to keep the entire thing in place and the pattern converged at the top with a red flag blowing in the dusty desert breeze.

A truly strange choice in living quarters, but it's the best we could get in a place like this. Plus we didn't have much room to complain either way.

I felt the dissipating warmth touch my skin as a lukewarm breeze passed through the air. If this carnival didn't look so run down and was still in working order, then who knows, it might have made the entire experience even twice as better. A chill ran down my spine, as I didn't know what to expect inside of the tent, was something inside going to jump out and attack us? Was it just a normal tent and I'm being paranoid as usual?

I'm overreacting again…..I really need to get some sleep.

"Follow me rejects," Monojoker pushed aside one of the flaps and entered inside the tent, "Come on, come on!"

"W-What's going to h-happen to us?" Cherika asked me, still a bit nervous and apprehensive about the situation.

"I'm not sure," I remarked, the only thing I could say at that moment, "We'll just have to face the bull by the horns, I guess."

Inevitably, we decided to follow the bear inside of the tent, closing our eyes and anticipating the worst. However as soon as we opened them, we were greeted with something a lot more tame in comparison to what our imaginations could ever dream up.

 **EKICHIROU & CHERIKA'S TENT**

The inside of the tent didn't even feel like a tent at all, it gave off the illusion of a room, but sported much more than that. The interior was larger than what I expected, it was shady and cooler than outside as there were a few portable A/C blowers in the corners of the room. The floors were matted with black floor padding and was soft to the touch, something you'd see in a dojo. I noticed a partition in the middle of the tent that was covered in the same soft material as the exterior of the tent; with one side being red and grey for my sister's side of the tent and white and green on the other for my side.

Walking further into the tent, I noticed that in between the curtain partition were two separate rooms, each facilitated for our own benefit. I spotted two beds, one with blue covers for myself and the other with red covers for Cherika. My side of the tent had a brown desk near the bed; similar to a nightstand of sorts. There were a few wooden bookshelves lined with different comics and manga of different genres on each shelf, a few posters from my favorite anime series and video games, a flat screen TV with a video game console and a few games resting on the ground, a closet that was lined with the same clothes that I was wearing currently on my person. I spotted a weird green clover shaped desk lamp on top of the nightstand that shone an obnoxious light green hue, a few slot machines in the corner of the room; probably to test my luck and see if I could score big earnings or something, a black and white camera in the room hanging from the roof, oddly enough, and there was a black and gold box on top of my bed that rested neatly on top of the covers.

However the weirdest part about my room was how the walls were decorated. Printed onto the tent's walls were green four leaved clovers, red and grey horseshoes, golden coins and japanese kanji reading the word 'lucky' in messy black ink. It was an odd pattern, but probably fitting for this whimsical carnival to match my talent and such.

"What an...astonishing design choice," I looked around the room, wondering if Monojoker was mocking my talent or joking.

"It's k-kind of f-funny.." Cherika made a small smile, giggling at the playful interior.

"I guess so," I sweat dropped, heading through the curtain and checking out her room as well.

It was pretty synonymous to mine except for a few small changes. The walls were red and grey, her closet had her clothes of the same brand and color, there was a black cat shaped lamp on her nightstand that shone a grey faded hue, another camera on her side of the tent, a few shelves lined with art supplies and a few posters from her favorite anime and video games series and on her bed was a gift box of sorts wrapped in red and white ribbons.

Much like the pattern of my room, hers had an even stranger and more jeering tone to the design. Her tent's interior had pictures of black cats hissing on the walls, open umbrellas and rain over the top spilling through the holes, fallen over ladders, spilled salt and other symbols of unluckiness that I didn't really know the names of. It was pretty demeaning, in my opinion.

"Is this a sick joke?" I wondered, watching as Cherika observed her room closer and rested on the bed lazily, "What kind of person does this?"

"Well that's very inconsiderate," Monojoker frowned, waddling over to me, "I go through the trouble of organizing and accommodating you lovely rejects and that's all you have to say to me, how shameful and discourteous."

"No, not that," I shook my head, "Why did you do all of this, did Mr. Yanagi approve of any this at all?"

"I don't know, my lips are sealed," Monojoker giggled, playing with the party hat on his head, "I'm going to check up on a few loose ends, get comfortable Ultimates…..you're going to need it."

As the eccentric bear left us to settle down, I rested my bags inside of the room and on top of mahogany desk nearby the shelves. I jumped onto the bed and closed my eyes for a few seconds, wanting to get some shut eye before thinking about anything else.

I mean the bed itself was comfortable and it didn't seem to be laced with anything dangerous nor was it infested with termites or any type of bug. It was oddly clean and smelled wonderful like freshly cut flowers or washed fruit. I grabbed the gold and black box on the side of my bed and shook it for a few seconds, wondering what was inside of it and felt something heavy move around inside. I rattled it a few times and felt something metal or clanky jostle around inside, almost like a toy or something.

"What's in here?" I thought curiously, pulling off the ribbon and removing the top of the box.

As I removed the top, inside was something I wasn't expecting to see at all. Inside of the neatly wrapped gift box, was a mini industrial toolkit of sorts. There was a small black and orange carrying case, with a hammer, two screwdrivers, some nails, nuts and screws, a tiny set of pliers, a wrench and some measuring tape all compacted inside a plastic kit that easily portable.

"That's odd…." I raised an eyebrow, kind of weirded out by the choice in present, "I don't usually use this kind of stuff, I'm not even good with machines….I didn't know Mr. Yanagi had a very...stereotypical mindset."

I kept observing the toolkit as Cherika emerged from the curtain on her side of the tent and showed me the red and white box she had received. She held it loosely in her hands, looking quite dubious as to its' potential contents.

"Kichi...I'm n-not sure what's in h-here.." she nervously shivered, a bit skeptical of what was inside, "I d-don't want to o-open it.."

"I'll do it sis," I reassured her, taking the gift, unraveling the ribbon. removing the lid and looking inside, "Huh...this is very weird.."

I took out what looked like some kind of black carrying case that could fit into your pocket. I unzipped the bag and it unfolded into what looked like some sort of mini sewing kit. Inside there were a few fabric scissors; one small and the other big, a few small pins with pointed tips, tailor's chalk to help with measurements, a seam ripper, five different colored threads; red, blue, green, yellow and orange and a needle set with some of them having a needle's eyes at the top to help with threading. It was a pretty basic beginners' sewing kit, nothing out of the ordinary.

"Well….this project sure has...some old fashioned methods of gift giving," I sweat dropped, "I think I might take this as well as the tool kit, sis."

"Y-Yeah…you c-can have it," she nodded nervously, fidgeting with her coat, "I-I never really was g-good at s-sewing…"

I didn't really want to take the risk either way. Our mother never bothered to teach us how to stitch clothing or anything like that and since Cherika had bad experiences with sharp objects, I usually had to end up mending and sewing up our clothes if they ended up getting ripped or torn. I was a bit more proficient with sewing than I was with using a manual tool kit, if anything.

"W-What do we d-do now?" Cherika asked, "I'm n-not really s-sleepy yet…"

"You know what, I'm not either," I shrugged off my general lethargic state, "Might as well look around the place a bit more before hitting the hay."

We decided to leave the tent for a while, noticing that it was still light outside. I guess we didn't spend as much time out here as we originally thought, given that the sun hadn't fully set yet. I wondered how the others here for the Project were fairing, given that they were all just as confused as we were about this entire situation with Monojoker. Some of them are probably doing better than we are, so who knows.

"Who should we go see first?" I wondered as Cherika followed alongside me, looking at the other tents in the area

"N-Not sure.." she thought, musing over the choices, "What about t-that one?"

I looked to where she was pointing to and saw a tent much like ours in terms of size, however the color scheme was blue and grey striped on the exterior design, very solid and bold colors. It had a very simple yet classic look to it.

"I wonder who's tent that is," she thought out loud, hearing some noises coming from inside, rather grunting noises to be exact, "Sounds like someone is doing something in there."

"Let's check it out," I sweatdropped, curious as to what could be making those noises.

"Okay…" she agreed, nervously treading behind me.

We both walked over to the tent, pushing aside the curtain upon entering, as the inside was rather big, almost rivalling the size of our tent almost. It was rather intriguing in terms of interior decor compared to the outside. The tent was padded on the floors as well, with the walls having the same blue and grey pattern on the inside but as far as similarities went, that's where it ended.

Inside of the tent, there were a few decorations inside, a bed with dark blue covers lay in the left back corner of the tent with little golden crowns on the design of the blanket. At the corners of the tent, I noticed a few pieces of medieval armor and weapons from the dark middle ages such as broadswords, maces, flails, spears and battle axes hanging on the walls of the tent like a pseudo armory from olden times. Above the bed was a mantle of a sword and shield resting directly above it, with a grey carpet with a stone like pattern similar to a castle brick wall pattern underneath the bed frame. I noticed a few exercise machines scattered throughout the tent, such as a treadmill, an ellipses, a machine bike, a rower, a bench press station, a large punching bag, a weight rack with black and blue dumbbells of different weights and a few more I didn't know the name of. Lastly to finish off the tent's pseudo fantasy look, I noticed two dragons; one light green and the other black on the tent's interior pattern with their necks interlocked with each other almost as if they were fighting with each other and covering the interior of the walls as sword were pierced into their skin.

"Wow...this room looks so cool, but rather simple…" I scoped it out, amazed by the amount of stuff in here, "Looks like something out of a fantasy book."

"V-Very fantastical….but w-with a m-modern twist.." Cherika also looked around the tent, astonished by what she saw.

As we examined the tent some more, we saw someone nearby running on the treadmill casually, they were intensely focused on their workout as sweat trickled down their forehead and body and they were running at a considerable pace.

"Is that Chris?" I wondered, noticing he looked different this time around, "Looks like he's out of his armor and dressed somewhat normally."

The tragic knight didn't have his armor on, but instead he wasn't wearing a shirt which only emphasized his muscular physique with the sweat trickling down his body in cascades. Although he was shirtless, he still wore brown pants on his legs and light brown loafers on his feet as he ran on the treadmill with a long sleeved blue shirt resting on one side of the treadmill arm rest.

He looked very normal, almost as if he was a different person entirely and not the grand knight we encountered upon arriving to the carnival. However what we didn't see from before was that his body was littered with a few burn marks and scars, probably from his adventures as a knight. He must get into a lot of accidents if he's sustained that much physical trauma.

 **CHRISTOPHER'S TENT**

"Oh hello Chris," I waved to him, making our presence known, "Pardon the intrusion."

He turned his head and noticed us, he was still running on the treadmill, with his arms pacing at his sides and breathing at a good pace.

"Oh! Glorious evening, you two," he waved back at us, before losing his focus, slipping on the sweaty edges and hitting his right arm onto the edge of the treadmill, "Oww, sard!"

We both instinctively rushed over to his side immediately, kneeling down to assist him as we helped him to his bed. It seems he got a bit careless and ruined his evening workout, poor guy.

"A-Are you o-okay?" Cherika asked, shaking slightly and looking worried for the knight.

"Yes I am...thank you, lady Cherika," he smiled, while bearing through the pain as he tried to move around his swollen red arm, "Your concern is not in vain."

His warm smile and sweaty muscular body was enough to make her blush with intensity, however he was too oblivious to notice as he continued stifling his injured state.

"Are you sure you're okay?" I titled my head in confusion, looking at the nasty bruise, "That looked like it hurt a lot, do you need me to get Itsuki?"

"No, Sir Ekichirou," he shook his head firmly, "This is very normal for one such as I, do not fret."

"Oh...alright, buddy," I looked at him worriedly, not sure if he was really okay, judging from the slightly hunched over look he gave. He was definitely not okay, despite what he told me.

I mean he seems very athletic from his overall tan physique and numerous scars and burns on his body, but I guess that doesn't mean he's invulnerable to pain, even simple injuries like that. I wanted to comfort him by patting him on the back, but that would be weird to suddenly do that to someone I just met a few hours ago, so I refrained.

"What were you doing?" I asked, taking a gander at his almost defaced body.

"I was doing my evening workout routine, to keep myself energized and to continue my endeavours," he sighed disappointedly, "I wanted to get one quick run in before going to bed...looks like that plan is down in the moat."

"M-Maybe you should sleep….it might a-alleviate the p-pain overnight…" Cherika timidly suggested, feeling a bit sorry for him as well, "I-I'm sorry...I can't be m-much help."

"Thou art correct…." he sweatdropped, realizing that it was pointless to keep working out further and continuing to argue over it, "I will retire early tonight...agh...thank you both for assisting me, even though I was perfectly — Oww!"

As much as we wanted to, there wasn't much we could do to assist him further without looking like a bunch of creepy weirdos in the process. So we shrugged it off and proceeded to head out of his tent.

"Alright, if you say so," I waved goodbye to the knight, "Later Chris, good night."

"Night…" Cherika waved to him nervously, "I h-hope you feel b-better soon.."

"Good night, siblings of fate," he tried to wave, but it pained his arm when he moved it around some more, "May your night be ever prosperous and restful."

We exited his tent, still a bit concerned for his well being as we bumped into someone else on the way out of the tent, accidentally causing a collision.

"Oops!" a voice yelped out, as the figure bumped into me and pushed Cherika onto the ground by domino effect, "My bad dudes, didn't see you there!"

"Owie…" Cherika fell on her butt once more, "I-It's fine….t-this happens a lot."

"I got you," said the voice, as a hand extended out to Cherika, "I wasn't looking where I was going so it's no problem, no hard feelings alright."

I looked to the person and saw Ayano, dusting off her clothes and reaching her hand out to my sister. The eSports Pro assisted Cherry from the ground and pulled her up to her feet, making sure she was steady once she arose. She held a very passive look on her face, but formed a small but rather friendly smile, rubbing the back of her head and looking somewhat apologetic.

"Thanks Ayano," I responded graciously, "It's not your fault, it was just a mere coincidence we bumped into each other, is all."

"Seriously, Kichi, it's not a big deal," she chuckled, a bit amused by my attempt at mediating the confusion, "You need to learn to take it easy once in a while, maybe let loose a bit."

"I guess…" I sighed tiredly, "If only the circumstances would allow it, but unfortunately, I'm stuck in a perpetual state of overprotection and paranoia."

"K-Kichi…" Cherika tugged at my shoulder, realizing that I was making the situation more awkward than it already was.

"So uh...how are you settling into your tent, Ayano?" I asked, fixing my blue newspaper boy cap on my messy head of hair, "My sister and I decided to check on you guys to see if you all were doing ok or not."

"Well, I wouldn't say this is really the best situation," Ayano thought, fidgeting with her compression gloves, "But I did get a sweet tent set up, even though I still have my doubts about Monojoker and this program's methods, it's probably just one big prank, who knows really."

"I think that's something to keep in the back of our minds for now," I agreed, making an awkward chuckle.

"S-So what is your t-tent like, A-Aya?" Cherika mumbled out, twirling a messy strand of her hair.

"Actually, I was on my way to the bathroom, but you two can wait for me by my tent," she said, "It's the crimson and navy striped tent, I'll be back in a few minutes, wait for me, you two."

"Ok, meet you there," I waved as she made her way to the female restroom hurriedly.

"W-What do you t-think her tent's l-like, Kichi?" Cherry asked, walking beside me.

"Probably filled with a lot of video game decals, classical retro game covers and maybe a few arcade machines, heh."

"S-Sounds cool!" she smiled cheerfully, laughing at my lame comment, "I-I wonder w-what games s-she likes t-to play?"

"Not sure, maybe we'll ask her when she gets back," I thought about it, as we made our way to the crimson and navy blue tent that she described to us. Now all we had to do was wait for the eSports Pro to return to her tent.

We started feeling slightly sleepy from all the excitement today has wrought, but if we were going to get to know these people for however long we'll be here, might as well make a good first impression. I'm kind of excited to see some of the tents in particular, but I shouldn't get ahead of myself in thinking that, since not everyone is going to be hospitable in allowing complete strangers into their personal spaces.

"Sorry for taking so long," Ayano rushed back, panting from the brisk walk, "I almost tripped and hit my head in there, the floors are kind of wet and very slippery."

"No worries," I reassured her, "So you ready to show us your tent?"

"Yes!" she pushed back some chocolate brown hair from her face, "Without further ado, I present to you the hypest and coolest tent on Earth! Welcome fellow nerds and nerdettes!"

 **AYANO'S TENT**

As she opened up the tent flap doors, we walked inside and were greeted by what could be described as a gamer's paradise or something similar to that of a geeky heaven.

The tent had the same interior colors as the outside, but as far as similarities went that was it. The padded mat floors were designed with a bunch of video game like print such as wireless controllers, consoles from many different brands such as GS4, YBox and Nontando Flip and a bunch of other gaming brands I vaguely remembered. The walls were plastered with many brand names from many different companies such as SANY, Megahard, Yobifluff, UE games as well as other ones I didn't recognize. I noticed a few arcade machines of old games like 'Road Brawler III', 'Want for Nitro 2' and an old classic, 'Pokman.' I spied some old retro game decals on the walls from games such as 'Galaxy Interlopers', Wonder Maria' and even 'Living Malice 2'.

There was a crimson bed in the middle right side of the room; the frame shaped like a giant video game racing car fashioned with a mattress, pillow and blanket covers. I spotted a glass trophy case with a few gold and silver trophies lined on the shelves with some medals hanging on the sides. I saw a mini fridge in the room and there was a shelf and countertop where there were half opened packets of chips, soda and other snacks. Lastly, I noticed a few computer monitors in the room; three to be exact and there were a few video game consoles hooked up to the machines and a few multi colored gaming controllers off to the side that lit up in the evening light.

"This tent...looks awesome!" I yelled out, while looking around some more and staring at the gaming paradise in front of me, "You're so lucky, Ayano."

"I know right," she smirked, rubbing the bridge of her nose, "I guess this program recognizes my unique talents, even though I just play video games for a living, heh."

"I guess so," I agreed, searching around the room some more, almost blinded by the flashing lights from some of the video game arcade consoles making a lot of beeping noises, "So is there a game that's considered your favorite or do you like a particular genre you're a fan of?"

"Oh man, that's a loaded question, where to even start?" she chuckled, playing with her face mask around her neck, "I guess out of all of them, I like competitive games and my number one favorite would be Melee."

"M-Mine too!" Cherika excitedly jumped into the conversation, twirling her hair around, "W-What do you m-main Aya?"

"Yoshi!" Ayano's eyes lit up like a Christmas tree instantly, it seems she's found another gaming partner, "You?"

"I'd say e-either P-Peach or K-K-Kirby…" Cherika spoke aloud, her eyes shining with excitement, "T-Those two a-are my favorites…"

"Peach? Niiice," Ayano finger gunned, showing her approval of Cherika's mains, "That's what I'm talking about!"

"I like to ma-" I added in my two cents, before the two of them walked over to a nearby arcade machine and left me hanging in the wind, "Nevermind then…"

"I have this really sweet setup, it's hella cool," Ayano showed off the few arcade machines to Cherika, "Do you play these as well?"

"Y-Yeah! Not really 'Tokken' but I really like 'Road Brawler'!" Cherika smiled, blushing and having a good time with the eSports Pro, "Although I'm much m-more of a casual g-gamer.."

"I see, that's alright," Ayano chuckled, "Being a competitive gamer isn't always for everyone, so no biggie."

I couldn't say this enough time, but it's nice seeing my sister getting along with someone her age, and another girl no less. I mean, she's always had to rely on me a lot, but maybe it's time that I stop worrying and actually let her spread her wings for once in her life. I just hope she can make some new friends in this program and maybe be more confident in herself and her actions.

"Oh shoot, is that the time!" Ayano flipped around one of her earbuds, "I have an online group raid tonight and I can't miss this one for the world, there's a special event tonight and I get a rare item if I win!"

"Is that right?" I pondered for a bit, looking at her as she turned on one of the computer monitors using her quick reflexes, "Well, we'll leave you to it then."

"B-Bye, Seagull…" Cherika smiled, giving her a small wave, "Thanks f-for the r-recommendations.."

"Seagull?" I questioned, unsure of why my sister called her that, "What's that? Is it like a nickname?"

"Sort of, it's just my gamertag," she winked, putting on a blue and white gaming headset, "Don't wear it out."

"Oh, okay. Good night then, Ayano" I waved to the eSports Pro as we left her tent, as she began tapping at her keyboard almost furiously and clicking the mouse with rapid fire motions.

"I-I had f-fun…" Cherika blushed, forming a small smile on her face, "S-She's so c-cool.."

"I'm happy for you sis," I smiled back as well, "Let's go see if there are more people around for us to talk to."

"A-Alright…" she nodded, walking ahead of me not looking, "Ahh!"

I noticed someone bump into Cherika, causing her to trip and fall on her face as the other person did the same as well. I rushed over there quickly and assisted the both of them up, my sister first of course and then the other person soon after.

"I don't need your help," the voice, belonging to Itsuki grumbled, "I can get up on my own."

"I-I'm s-sorry.." Cherika apologized, bowing her head unnecessarily, "I d-didn't mean to, Itsuki.."

"Save it," Itsuki grumpily sighed, dusting off his messy attire, "Maybe wear brighter clothing next time, maybe then people might notice you."

"Hey, there's no need to be rude," I reproached the EMT, "It was a simple accident, is all, no need to bite her head off."

"Yeah right," he rolled his eyes, behind his messy blue fringe, "She should be more careful of where she's going, in that case."

"I-I'm s-sorry Itsuki…" Cherika mumbled, "Oww…."

I turned my head and noticed her holding her arm in pain, her facial expression wincing as she tried rubbing her bruise to massage it away. I noticed small patches of blood forming on her sweater sleeve and some bits of rock slipped into her sweater sleeve.

"Oh crap…" I worriedly sighed, "Sis, you need to be more careful next time."

"I'm sorry...K-Kichi.." she sniffled, "I g-guess I got t-too excited…"

"No no it's fine, you just need a band aid and to rinse your arm off," I rolled up her sleeve and took a look at her wound, "Oh...that looks like a really nasty cut."

Her left arm had a small red scrape, with bits of blood pouring out of the small wound as it dripped onto the ground and a few pebbles lodged into the wound.

"Let me take a look at that," Itsuki pushed me to the side, taking a hold of Cherika's arm, "Huh...you must be pretty careless to get a cut this bad."

"T-This normally happens…" Cherika whimpered, "I'm u-used to it…"

"Come to my tent," Itsuki rolled his eyes, reluctantly sighing, "I have some first aid kits, I can take a look at this cut and properly treat it."

"Oh, thank you, Itsuki!" I raised an eyebrow, a bit taken aback by his sudden kindness, "You didn't have to do that."

"Yeah yeah, don't rub it in…" he groaned, taking Cherika by the hand and dragging her to his tent.

"U-Um Kichi…" Cherika sweat dropped, being escorted by the displeased EMT, "A little h-help.."

"I'm coming…" I sweatdropped as well, following the two of them, to another large tent.

He led the both of us into a tent that was red, white and dark blue in terms of colors. I guess it was meant to be in the same shade as hospital colors mixed with his own personal shade of blue that matched his hair and attire. It was funny but in a weird meta sense almost.

"Watch your step," he instructed us, dusting his feet on a brown mat that said, 'Fuck off!' in black letters and brown engravings.

"How welcoming…" I clicked my tongue, confused by the mat's antithetical greeting and harsh tone.

 **ITSUKI'S TENT**

As we entered inside of the EMT's tent, I almost did a double take and mistook it for a hospital with how basic and simple it looked. Given the amount of medical related designs and inspirations, I wasn't too far off in calling his tent an infirmary in of itself or a mini version of a hospital.

The tent, as I would have expected, was the same color as the exterior but plastered on the walls were decal of a silver medical sword and wing logo, a bright red cross and a few grey skulls plastered on the walls to give a very morbid feel like most hospitals do, very emo esque in a sense. The floor was padded a white creme color, to resemble hospital floors and instead of a normal bed, his tent had medical beds like ones you'd see in a regular hospital. His bed was in the center of the room with teal covers and a stiff looking pillow resting on top of the bed, with about three other beds off to the left side of the room that were shaped like gurneys with handles on each side to prevent patients from falling over. I noticed a few heart monitors off to the sides of each medical bed and a few white painted medical cabinet cupboards in the back of the room filled with many different kinds of medicine, chemicals and even dangerous poisons as well.

"This almost feels like a real hospital," I looked around the room, a bit dispirited by the decor, "It even has that same smell as well," pinching my nose to block out the smell.

"What did you honestly expect?" Itsuki shrugged indifferently, directing Cherika to sit on top of one of the medical beds, "I'm sorry it's not a five star hotel with continental breakfast, like you rich plebs are so accustomed to."

"P-Plebs?" Cherika tilted her head in confusion, unsure of what he meant, "Oww…"

"Don't touch it, do you want to get an infection!?" Itsuki growled, sulking and hobbling over to the medicine cabinets, "Now where the hell are those damn first aid kits…"

While he was perusing his cabinets frantically and unenthused, Cherika and I looked around his tent some more, waiting for the clearly cranky EMT to find his tools. My sister rested on top of the bed, taking a light nap, while I sat down nearby, taking in more of the scenery. I then noticed a few drawings and art sketches postered around the room, that I missed the first time around. They ranged form child like doodles to even sketches of self portraits and even other people. It was rather impressive and well detailed.

"Wow!" I stared at some of the sketches, picking up one next to a table, "This is really good, much better than what I could do!"

"Hey don't touch that!" Itsuki rushed over, grabbing the drawing from my grasp, "You're not supposed to see or touch that."

I was a bit surprised by his sudden jerk reaction to me looking at the drawings scattered on the table. He anxiously grabbed more drawings that were plastered around the room, piled them inside of a brown drawer near his bed and stuffed them inside as he slammed the drawer shut with a few pages sticking out of the creases.

"Ok…" I remarked, a bit flabbergasted as to why he did that, "Those were very neat drawings...who drew them?"

"None of your business," he shot me a dirty glare, "You don't see me snooping around your stuff, so don't do it to me."

"Okay, I get it, geez," I backed down, leaving him to do his thing, "No need to get antsy about it."

He shook his head in disappointment, pulled out a white first aid kit with a red cross on the front and began organizing his supplies orderly.

"W-Will this h-hurt?" Cherika asked, waking up from her short nap and getting psyched for the treatment.

"If you move too much, it will, is that what you want?" he shot her an unamused look, "Wipe your hands and arms with this wet nap."

He handed her some wet wipes, I assumed to clean up the cut, as she did as he told her to. Some bits of dirt and blood came off onto the wipe as he took it from her and threw it away in a nearby silver medical bin.

"Good, now onto the 'fun' part," he sarcastically remarked, rummaging through his kit, "Now make sure you hold still ok?"

"O-Ok.." she nodded, a bit nervous at what he was going to do.

She started sweating nervously, keeping still as she could be as Itsuki went to work. He grabbed a brown glass bottle of disinfectant and a white cotton bud from a clear plastic bag, dipped some of it onto the bud and began applying it carefully to her cut.

"Oww…" she winced, trying to stifle the pain as much as she could, "It s-stings…"

"I'm right here, sis," I stood next to her side, reassuring that it was going to be okay, "It'll be over before you know it."

She anxiously nodded her head, as Itsuki finished cleaning her wound. He then grabbed a few cream bandages and applied about three of them to her scrape, making sure they would stay put.

"Almost done.." he sighed with relief, grabbing one more thing from his medical kit, "I'm going to wrap this bandage around your arm and pin it together, now hold still."

"O-Okay…" she cautiously agreed.

The EMT then began wrapping her arm with a creme skin colored bandage, covering her entire left arm almost, then taking a metal pin and locking it in place.

"Have you had your tetanus shot?" he asked bluntly, not wasting much time.

"N-No.." she hesitantly replied, "W-Why is that b-bad?"

"Well...if you don't want to risk infection, we need to get you your shot immediately," he groaned, face palming, "Idiots…"

He rummaged through his kit some more and pulled out a plastic syringe along with a bottle of colored liquid. He took the syringe and stuck it inside of the bottle and tapped the syringe to make sure it was clean.

"K-Kichi, I'm scared," she looked at me with fear in her eyes, "I h-hate n-needles.."

"It's alright, sis," I comforted her, holding out my hand, "You can hold onto my hand like you usually do if you want to."

"O-Okay…" she nodded her head, clutching my hand very tightly.

Itsuki then rolled up her sweater sleeve some more and injected the syringe into her left arm carefully. Her grip grew tighter and tighter, as her nails dug into my skin as I kept a strong face the entire time. However on the inside, I was griping in pain as she kept on bruising my hand with her unusually sharp nails.

"And we're all set," Itsuki removed the syringe, took a cotton bud and put a bandage over the injection spot, "Now leave, I have things to do."

"Oh, okay…" I nodded, a bit confused by his sudden passive aggressiveness, "Thank you so much Itsuki, I owe you one."

"Just get out of here, before I regret helping your sister out," he crossed his arms and began cleaning up his tools by a nearby sink, "People these days….I swear."

"T-Thank you…" Cherika smiled weakly, "I appreciate it, I-Itsuki…"

"Whatever…." he sighed deeply, "Don't mention it."

He began wiping his syringe and washing his hands as we left his tent. Cherika kept on checking her arm making sure she could move it and from the look on her face she was feeling slightly better than usual.

"T-That wasn't so b-bad...thanks Kichi," she brushed back some strands of hair from her face.

"Isn't that what a big bro is there for?" I smiled, ruffling her head, "Come on, let's go check out the other tents."

"Y-yeah.." she giggled cheerfully.

We walked around the abandoned carnival some more, checking out nearby game booths and noticed more empty stalls filled with cobwebs and dust. The more I looked at these grotesque prizes stuffed inside of the booths, lingering with maggots and other vermin, the more I wanted to hightail it out of this god forsaken infested carnival. However it looked like we were stuck out here with no mode of transportation or any other place to rest in sight, so this was our only option.

"Do you hear that?" I asked Cherika, as we passed by a tent, "It's very loud?"

"I-I hear it t-too…" Cherika ears perked up, hearing the noise as well, "W-What is it?"

"I don't know," I looked around for where the sound originated from, "It looks like it's coming from inside that tent."

We looked around and arrived close to a brown and light pink striped tent, a bit worried about what was inside of the room, making that ghastly loud noise. Was it a beast? Did a wild animal find its' way into the carnival? How did it even get in? This place was crazy, I'll say that much.

The loud noise grew and grew in intensity as we inched closer into the tent. I gulped, hoping that it wasn't a wild bear or a wolf, and opened up the tent's entrance as we went in, tip toeing inside as quietly as we could, without alarming whatever was making that noise.

Once we entered the tent, I felt something soft on my foot as I looked down, noticing a pastel pink pillow on the floor along with a few more pastel cased pillows of different colors scattered everywhere. The floor was padded like the others, but littered with pillows in every corner of the room. The interior was the same color on the tent walls with a few bright pink hearts and blue snoring symbol decals etched onto the walls. I noticed a brown mirror vanity off to the right side of the tent with a few makeup and perfume bottles off to the sides, a few hairbrushes and skin care products resting on the countertop and other beauty products I didn't recognize. There was a large brown armoire that was probably filled with clothes, a few shelves lined on the walls of the tent that were decorated with glitter and jeweled boxes, and a few pieces of jewelry resting on the sides of the boxes. Finally we saw a few shelves in the corner of the room, with some fashion magazines, makeup catalogues and even romance literature titles from famous authors wedged amongst the other books on the shelves.

We peered deeper inside the tent and the loud noise grew more and more as we ventured further. We noticed a large queen sized bed and someone sleeping soundly inside of its' pink and brown striped covers and dozing off soundly. Their long brown hair strewn across the pillow, black circles underneath that eyes and their face was both content and somewhat disgruntled at the same time.

"Is that T-Tsukae?" Cherika whispered to me, "Is she s-sleeping this e-early?"

"I think so…" I leaned closer, hoping not to disturb the charmer as she slept, "At least I hope so and she's not passed out or something."

 **TSUKAE'S TENT**

"Ugh…." Tsukae grumbled, tossing and turning as she rested her petite head on the pink pillows, snoring and sleep talking to herself, "Mwergh, so sleepy….this bed is so soft and cozy..."

"I guess we know who the wild beast was making those noises," I internally chuckled, amused by her cute, if not loud snoring, "She looks so peaceful while sleeping like that, almost like a princess or something."

"S-Should we w-wake her?" Cherika wondered, talking as quietly as she could.

"Let's leave her be," I whispered back to Cherika, "She looks like she needs this more than we do."

"O-Okay…" she nodded, as we began slowly walking out of the tent, hoping not to cause a ruckus or fall on the floor.

We did our best to stealthily sneak out of her tent, hoping not to trip on any of the scattered pillows in the process as we made it out safely. Cherika stumbled on one of the purple pillows, but it seemed Tsukae was too lethargic to notice us exiting, let alone knowing we were there.

We left her tent slowly but quickly, hoping that we didn't inconvenience her as we sighed with relief. If there's one thing I've learned over these past few years, never ever wake up a sleeping girl, she'll never let you hear the end of it.

"Maybe we should wait for her to wake up first, before dropping by and saying hello," I nervously breathed, hoping that we've distanced ourselves from her tent area.

"Y-Yeah…" Cherika agreed, "W-What now Kichi?"

To be honest, ever since we left our tents, I had forgotten why we'd ventured out in the first place. We had intended to meet the other participants of the program, but considering half of them were either too busy to initiate a full conversation or were preoccupied and unwilling to entertain us, I think we might as well try somewhere else for now.

"If you seek refuge for your weary bones," a mysterious voice echoed from somewhere, "Step into my parlor, travelers."

Alerted by the sudden mysterious voice, we turned around looking for where it came from. I did a double take when I saw that we were near another tent much like the other ones. However this tent was colored a dark purple and a silvery gray color striped pattern and gave off a more mystical vibe than the other ones, there was a sense of mystery in the air so to speak.

"Okay...this is weird," I worriedly looked around, wondering what was going on.

"It's k-kind of freaking me out.." Cherika trembled, "M-Maybe we should go…"

"Would you rather hear your fortunes instead?" the mysterious voice called out, seemingly having read our minds, "Fate is a fickle mistress indeed, what say you tempt fate, by changing your destiny before it happens?"

A bit disturbed, but also intrigued by what the voice was telling us, we conceded and followed it's alluring tone inside of the silvery purple tent, as a small fog rolled in out of nowhere. Talk about ominous and foreboding, looks like a B grade horror movie.

As we ventured inside, the atmosphere was very cryptic and unassuming in nature. It was dimly lit and there was zero semblance of light anywhere in the room. It was hard to see anything inside, save for a few glow in the dark light up decal in the shape of yellow stars, white moons and blue and black third eyes glittered in silver dust and dazzling the entire tent. The floor was padded as well and in the center of the room, I noticed a very familiar setup; similar to that of the fortune teller's booth. There was a reflective crystal ball on top of a blue stand in the center of the room, a gold and blue sparkly striped table cover rested over it and underneath the crystal ball.

"Is anyone in here?" I asked, walking slowly into the dimly lit room, awaiting a response.

"Welcome, twins of fortune and misfortune," a voice called out, as the light in the room grew slightly brighter but not too much as to ruin the mysterious allure of the tent's vibe.

With the new change in lighting, I took a gander of the tent's interior and noticed a few more things I hadn't noticed the first time around. I spotted a few shelves in the back of the room, all lined with books that varied from theories and study of magic, history and their versions of fortune telling and other such editions lined neatly on the shelves. I spotted a bed in the left corner of the room with dark purple covers and yellow stars on the blanket design with a purple pillow resting at the top of the bed. I spotted a few magical artifacts on the walls, such as a fake magic wand that bore a purple amethyst gem in the center of a golden rod surrounded by a blue velvet veil, a few pages scattered around the room with illustrations of black inked demonic looking figures and to top off the tent's fantastical element, there was a slight chill forming in the room with a mysterious grey fog appearing on the floor coming from a fog machine I noticed in the corner of the room next to a full sized mirror. I also spied an armoire as well as a few velvet purple curtains that were hung around the walls of the tent, giving a very cool tone color palette that offsets the glow of the stars and moon.

"W-Who's there?" Cherika asked, a bit scared of the voice, "I-Is it an evil s-spirit?"

"No, nothing of the sort," the voice giggled, as a figure emerged from behind a purple curtained area of the room and sat at the crystal ball table, "Good evening Ekichirou and Cherika, to what do I owe the pleasure of your spontaneously timed visit?"

I remember that distinct figure and tone of voice anywhere. Their choppy purple hair, the sailor like outfit, the iconic eye cover and the long cloak behind their back. I had a feeling this tent belonged to him, it should have been a dead giveaway from the start.

 **NASHI'S TENT**

"Oh hey, Nashi, it's just you," I clutched my chest in relief, "Y-You-"

"Almost gave you a fright?" the soothsayer interrupted, seemingly having foresaw what I was going to say, "I do apologize for that, I didn't intend to spook you and your sister."

"No worries," I calmed down, fixing my clothes, "I really do like your tent's design, it's very...ummm?"

"Magical?" Cherika added, not trembling as much, but shivering from the chilly fog in the room, "Enchanting?"

"No what's the word umm…" I continued pondering for the right word.

"Mystical?" Nashi interjected, seemingly having read my mind already as he giggled, "I get that a lot, although you two are the first to come and visit one such as I, is there something ailing your minds, Yoshirenku twins?"

"No, not really…" I cleared my throat, "We just wanted to see what you and everyone else was up to, is all."

"I foresaw something like this happening," he passively gestured, "Unfortunately, I don't have much to offer in return for your kind visit, would a simple fortune reading suffice?"

"S-Sure?" I agreed, unsure of what he was referring to, "What did you have in mind? Are you going to swirl your hands around a crystal ball and a ghost of the past shows up or something?"

Cherika and Nashi both chuckled at my lame joke, as she and I both sat down next to the crystal ball table. I personally didn't really believe in all of this magical nonsense or believed that if I adhere to small fortunes, then my day would go accordingly the way it was fated to. With luck like mine, it kind of plays out almost the same in some sense, which can get kind of boring after a while, so you come to not expect too much deviation.

"Not exactly," he spoke, as his cloak fluttered behind him, "Fate does play a part in your way of life, but how you interpret each fortune is based solely on your own mind's eye."

"W-What does that mean?" Cherika wondered, scratching the back of her neck.

"Oh pardon me," he politely collected himself, "Simply put, it's all about how one perceives a fortune, do you believe in the readings all the way or simple dismiss them as illogical, that is the real notion to take away from it all."

"I guess that makes sense...I think?" I questioned, still a bit unsure of what the soothsayer was talking about.

"How about a simple palm reading," he changed the topic, "I think that will suffice."

"Sure, why not," I sighed, conceding to his offer and extending my palm out to him, "I hope my hand isn't out of your reach or anything?"

"I may lack sight, Ekichirou, but I can for see where it will be," he passively gestured, taking my hand in his and tracing his finger up and down my palm.

The soothsayer's pale fingers were slightly rough but not bad to the touch, he continued tracing his finger around my palms some more, until he formed a small frown on his face and backed away from me slowly, letting go of my palm and almost stepping back a bit in his seat.

"Is there a problem?" I asked, curious as to what he interpreted from my hand reading, "Did the stars not align in my favor or something, heh?"

Nashi began mumbling to himself, covering his mouth with his palm as he whispered something to himself that was hard to make out. It was as if he was internally debating whether he should tell me what my fortune was or keep it hidden from me and give me a random obscure fortune that would only keep me in the dark further.

"Please excuse me," he composed himself, "Your fortune, took me a bit by surprise is all, it's nothing to worry about though."

"Ok...so what does it say?" I asked, getting a bit worried by his choice of wording.

"A fate of absolute uncertainty clouds your future, it goes beyond my sight," he cryptically noted, fiddling with the tie around his neck.

"W-What does t-that mean?" Cherika asked, a bit worried herself, "I-Is it bad?"

"Too dubious to tell," the soothsayer shook it off, and dodged the question entirely, "Now your turn, Cherika."

Cherika nodded her head nervously, extending a shaky palm to Nashi as he took his finger and began tracing along the lines of her palm.

"Oh…" Nashi stopped tracing for a brief moment, "This is rather peculiar indeed…"

"W-What is it?" Cherika asked, clearly worried about what he knew, "I-Is something wrong, N-Nashi?"

"An untimely demise may befall you in the future," Nashi stoically commented, with a passive expression forming on his face, "Be weary of those around you, for you never know who would seal your fate."

Almost instinctively, I started to slightly panic. If what Nashi said was true, then we needed to be careful around this abandoned amusement park. This could be me just overreacting, but for some reason I had a small hunch what he said is somewhat true.

"Well then, it was nice of you to read our fortunes, Nashi!" I stood up from my chair, "I'm sorry if it didn't work out as planned or whatever."

Despite not being able to see his eyes, I could Nashi had a sort of fearsome look on his face, call it a gut instinct. I may not believe in all of this fantastical or magical fortune telling, but I guess this was my fault for entertaining his suggestions and falling prey to his cryptic readings and misleading fortunes.

"Come on Cherry, let's go," I motioned to her to follow me, "Have a nice night, Nashi!"

"K-Kichi?" Cherika questioned as she stood up from her seat as well, feeling both lost and confused.

"Good night you two, may the stars ever align in your favor," he responded coldly, heading back behind the curtained area as we both exited his tent.

"W-Why d-do you keep d-doing that!?" Cherika asked irritatedly, "T-That was v-very inconsiderate…"

"I'm sorry, sis, but I just had a bad feeling about those fortunes is all," I sighed, scratching the back of my head, "I just don't trust his readings...no offense to him."

"K-Kichi….I appreciate y-you looking out for me…but," she fiddled with her sweater sleeve, itching at her bandages, "Y-You can't k-keep doing this….I'm g-getting a tired of b-being babied all the time."

Hearing her say that kind of stuff, always made me feel like an idiot at the end of the day. I get that she wanted to make her own decisions and that she needed to learn to fend for herself. However at the same time, she's my little sister, the only family that I ever really had, unlike in that place we used to call a home. I guess from years of watching over her, it's made me question a lot of people and their intentions regarding us as individuals. Look at me rambling again, how pathetic.

"I know I know...I'm sorry, Cherry," I dejectedly dropped my head, "I'm such an old lady at times, I know I shouldn't be freaking out like this, but it's a force of habit for me."

"I understand….j-just make sure not to overreact a-again.." she patted me on the head, "Okay?"

"Alright.." I agreed despondently, accepting the head pat, "Where do you want to go next, sis?"

"Hmm...that tent o-over there l-looks new?" she pointed to behind me, as I turned my gaze, "I w-wonder who's t-t-tent that is?"

I looked to where she was pointing to and saw another tent, but the pattern was a dark red and gold colored pattern. It glittered in the evening glow, the auburn hues and the crimson shades cascaded across the tent's exterior and transitioned into a warmer, more friendlier tone.

"Ooh what a pretty tent," I whistled, admiring it's radiance, "I wonder who got that one?"

"I-It's really cool...t-too bad I left m-my sketchbook in my t-t-tent.." Cherika gazed at the tent, with a listless stare, 'I w-would have l-loved to draw it…"

"It's alright, maybe next time," I patted her on the back, "Let's go check it out."

We walked over to the tent, unsure if anyone was assigned that tent. We shrugged off the notion that someone was inside and took a quick peek inside. From the small glimpse that we took, we were able to make a clear layout of the tent's interior.

It had the same color on the inside like the other tents; with gold and red stars as well as orange cones and white hurdle decal on the walls of the tent. I noticed a large brown wooden desk in the corner of the tent with a bunch of maroon bookshelves lined on opposite sides of the desk with different categories of books ranging from math, literature, science, english, art and a whole bunch of other fields of study that seemed to be for someone in a higher grade than my sister and I. The floors were padded as well, but on the floor there was a carpet shaped like a mini sprint track with a large brownish red circle in the center of the room with mini hurdles that were so short you could walk over them. There was a large armoire that seemed filled to the brim with clothing; from the ruffles and tiers that poked out. There was a shelf rack on opposite sides of the armoire with about a plethora of multi colored types of hair accessories and ribbons. There was a bed at the corner of the room with red stars on the white covers and to finish off the room's neatly presented look, I noticed a few potted flowers in the room, a bright yellow sunflower, an orange orchid and a purple chrysanthemum.

This room screamed girl's room in every sense of the word. Given the amount of feminine apparel and furniture and the obvious running track, I assumed this was Shannon's room. It's a given considering her talent was that of being a Runner, but the books on the shelves were what piqued me the most. From the looks of her, she seemed to be a year or two younger than my sister and I, yet she had books that most college students would buy or more so forget to buy and end up never using, lined on her shelves. She must have been one of those advanced level students or something. If that was the case.

 **SHANNON'S TENT**

"This room certainly pops with color," I wondered, as my sister and I entered the tent, "It's neatly organized as well."

"These f-flowers are so p-pretty," Cherika walked over to the potted flowers on the nightstand next to the bed, "S-Shannon must t-take really good care of t-these.."

I decided to peruse the bookshelves and pulled out a calculus book that was made for a grade above mine and once I flipped through the pages, I was immediately stumped. The equations and formulas were over my head and I noticed a few pieces of paper and stationery on top of the desk. It seemed Shannon was in the middle of studying or something, but why was she doing that now?

"Why the hell are you two in here?!" shouted a female voice that was so high pitched it startled us, "Didn't you get the memo that it's rude to enter someone else's tent without their permission?!"

I dropped the book to the floor and Cherika jumped with fright, almost tipping over the flower pot on the nightstand. We turned around and noticed the runner, Shannon herself, gazing at us with a hostile look as her hair buns were still done messily and her greyish purple eyes filled to the brim with annoyed fury.

"Oh s-sorry, we didn't mean to barge in," I quickly caught myself and tried to make a good enough excuse, "W-We just happened to pass by and wondered if you were here is all.."

"W-We didn't mean to cause t-t-trouble," Cherika bowed and humbly apologised.

"I knew you two were weird," she scoffed, crossing her arms and resting down a bag of potato chips she had brought with her from the cafeteria, "But I didn't peg you two as creepy perverts or freaky weirdos, looks like I was mistaken."

Well she does have a somewhat fair point, while we weren't what she claimed we were, we didn't mean any harm by it. I guess it's all just one big misunderstanding.

"I'm sorry, but we never went through your clothes or anything personal, mind you," I retorted, "We just wanted to take a quick peek inside since we were visiting the others' tents."

"I don't want to hear your stupid excuses," she snapped back, gritting her teeth and responding in an overly aggressive tone, "Now if you don't want me to scream and alert the others, then I suggest you and your pathetic sister hightail it out of here, while I'm still in a good mood."

Maybe Itsuki was somewhat right about her, she does have a very vicious attitude. However, my sister and I didn't really have any room to defend ourselves as Shannon face's twisted into an intensely serious expression as she began counting up to ten slowly.

"One….two…..three," she counted, letting us know we had time to escape and save our dignity, "Four.."

I grabbed my sister's hand and we zoomed out of the runner's tent as fast as possible, no pun intended. We pushed through the tent's flap entrance and rushed outside and sat on a brown bench nearby and caught our breaths. We were clearly still terrified at the thought of Shannon throwing a barrage of accusations at us and then vilifying us, even though we were kind of in the wrong for barging into her tent unannounced.

"That….was...close…" I panted loudly, trying to catch my breath.

"Y-Y-Yeah….." Cherika clutched her chest as well, her heart almost looking as if it wanted to jump out of her chest from the sudden adrenaline rush, "S-She was k-kind of s-scary…."

"Understandably so…." I sighed disappointedly, "We should apologize to her later, when she cools off, doing it now will only stir her temper even more."

"R-Right…" she nodded, her forehead sweating from the running, "I-I feel b-bad for doing that…."

As we pondered on what to do next, resting our feet for a bit, I looked up and noticed someone walking around the tents. The person was carrying a black garbage bag and was picking up what looked to be pieces of paper, scrap and wrappers off the ground and dusting off the booth countertops and putting the residual dirt inside of the bag.

"Is that...Gabe?" I wondered, blinking a few times and getting a better look at the person, noting their messy light green hair and their dark blue railwear, "What's he doing?"

"Is h-he cleaning?" Cherika tilted her head, wondering what the garbologist was doing picking up trash so late, "Maybe, let's go see if he needs any help."

"O-Okay…" she nodded, both of us getting up from our seats and heading over to greet him.

The garbologist was closely inspecting each corner of the booths and around the tent areas carefully, his chocolate brown eyes perused each nook and cranny for whatever trash was left over. It seemed he was too busy picking up garbage to notice us approaching him from behind as he knelt down near a booth stand and grabbed a few red and white candy wrappers from underneath the countertop.

"Hey Gabe, what's up?" I asked, tapping him on the shoulder.

"Huh?" his body jolted upwards, as he hit his head on the edge of the countertop, "Ow...ow...don't d-do that."

"Whoops sorry," I went over to him and helped him up from the ground, "I didn't mean to scare you there, just wanted to see how you were doing is all."

"Oh….I'm fine," he responded, rubbing the back of his head, "Just picking up trash, nothing special really."

"W-Why?" Cherika asked, a bit nervous from all the excitement so far.

"It's really silly...a garbologist doing his job, even off duty and such," he sighed despondently, continuing to massage his head bump, "I guess it's a force of habit or something...heh…"

His awkward chuckle made me want to help him out, given that he was minding his own business before and we suddenly interrupted his task. The glum look on his face was enough to make me want to cheer him up in a sense.

"D-Do you n-need help?" Cherika meekly asked, playing with her coat sleeves.

"Nah not really, I'm almost done with this area anyway," he said, resting the garbage bag on the ground and dusting his gloved hands, "Besides, I'm very particular about how I do things….not that it really matters."

"I think it's a very commendable thing to be doing," I smiled at him, "Not a lot of people are concerned about keeping places clean, let alone picking up garbage off the ground.

"You think so…..I don't see anything special in what I do," he dejectedly stated, "Cleaning is something that brings me comfort...I guess."

He spoke with a tired tone in his voice, a bit worn out from all the arduous trash collecting he was doing I suppose. He looked like he was about to pass out or something from the amount of sweat that built up on his forehead, as he wiped some away onto his sleeve.

"I'm pretty thirsty…" he mentioned, grabbing his collar and getting some air inside, "I'm pretty sure I have a few drinks in my tent….I'd go and get one, but what if I missed some trash?"

"We can go get the drink for you," I interjected into his self thoughts, "Where's your tent?"

"Oh, thanks I guess...you don't need to do that," his eyes widened when I said that, "Just don't make a mess….okay?"

"S-Sure thing…" Cherika nodded, "G-Good job Gabe…"

"Oh...t-thanks Cherika.." he blushed at her complimentary remark, clutching at the garbage bag nervously.

"What does your tent look like?" I asked the garbologist, looking for said tent in the process.

"It's the dark green and greyish blue striped tent over there," he pointed to the nearby tent next to the dunk tank, "Can't miss it…"

"Thanks, we'll be back soon," I waved, as we both left him to continue his mission of ridding the carnival grounds of trash.

We arrived at the aforementioned tent and it was just like he said, it was the same color as the ones he described to us. We both headed inside of his tent, thankfully we got his permission before entering, noticing a black mat on the ground with white words reading 'Please dust feet off before entering, thank you.' We did as the polite sounding mat instructed and entered into his tent, wondering what it would be like.

 **GABRIEL'S TENT**

Once we arrived inside of his tent, we expected a garbage like themed tent, similar to how the other tents matched the talents of the others here. However Gabe's room, while somewhat synonymous with the other tents themes, was almost hard to tell it was his room from first glance.

The padded floors were swept thoroughly; with not a trace of dirt on any of the mats, the walls were decaled with grey garbage cans, green trash bags and light green recycle arrows on the interior pattern of the tent and the room in general was almost immaculate. His bed, oddly fashioned from an old dumpster with part of the front missing and lid removed looked shiny and clean; with dark green covers neatly tucked into each of the corners with the pillow fluffed and dusted. There was a dark brown desk in the corner of the room that was wiped clean with wood varnish and sparkled to a glistening shine that would rival that of shooting stars. The armoire in his room was also dusted as well and polished to a wooden gleam, with his clothes neatly organized and all color coded as well. I noticed a silver trash can and a dark green recycling bin in the corner of the room with a few black and green bags resting on a table top; respectively corresponding to their respective bins. The room smelt of fresh flowers or some exotic fruity scent as it wasn't too overbearing, but just enough to tickle your nostrils with a sense of delight. Finally I noticed a mini break station with a mini fridge and a few paper plates and plastic forks in left corner of the tent.

His room was cleaned from top to bottom and some areas even sparkled in the evening light; almost brightening the room's aesthetic. I knew he was a garbologist and it sort of came with the territory, but his meticulousness was off the charts in terms of cleanliness.

"T-This tent looks r-really organized…" Cherika noted, eyeing the amount of detail put into making the room look neat, "H-He really d-does like cleaning…"

"Seems so," I chuckled, heading over to the mini fridge, assuming that's where he put his beverages, "Here we are."

I opened the fridge door and a breath of cool air brushed against my face as a white light illuminated a portion of the tent. It seemed even simple cans of soda, juice or water were even subject to his OCD like tendencies. Bottles of water lined the shelves neatly stacked on top of each other, the soda cans rested on the fridge door shelves; each flavor lined up next to the other and the juice pouches were even categorized by their brand and flavor types.

"Wow...a bit much," I sweatdropped, grabbing a can of Cico Cola,"I hope this is what he wants."

I carried the can of soda with me as Cherika continued staring aimlessly around the room, bewitched by how perfectly neat it looked and how nice it smelt. She took one big deep breath in and gave a relieved sigh.

"Hey sis, time to go," I called out to her, waking her up from her daze.

"O-Oh...right s-sorry Kichi," she turned around suddenly, following me out of the tent and back outside.

We searched around for the garbologist and spotted him wiping the dunk tank with a few sanitation wipes. The tank itself was filled with caked mud and moss filled water, but that didn't seem to phase him as he continued to vigorously wipe the edges and sides of the tank with no end in sight, as I noticed a few wipes on the ground and inside of the trash bag.

"We're back with your drink," I called out to him, "Sorry it took so long."

"Huh...oh thanks," he stopped wiping for a second and noticed us, "Sorry...I got a bit distracted….this tank is absolutely filthy."

"I can see that," I noted, staring at the green moss floating inside, "Well we'll leave you to it then, have a nice evening, Gabe."

"Y-Yeah….later." Cherika gave a small wave to him, "N-Night.."

"Night night," he remarked casually, going back to his cleaning routine and mumbling something under his breath, "Freaking moss…"

Gabe's a pretty mellow guy. Aside from his habit of hiding in trash cans, I think he's someone I'd like to hang out with and grab lunch with in his off time. Compared to the others, he's very sane and harmless, so I guess he's someone I shouldn't really be weary around or worried about.

"H-Hey Kichi...do you h-hear that?" Cherika asked, her ears perking up, "S-Sounds like m-music."

I wasn't sure what she was referring to until my ears caught the sound of what appeared to be a guitar being played nearby. It sounded harmonious and I just had to know who was playing such a good song.

"You're right, it sounds nearby, let's check it out," I told her, "It sounds amazing!"

We walked around the carnival tent area some more as the melodious music grew louder and louder as we arrived at a tent. The tent colors were a plaid in color; with red, green and dark brown stripes with black lines in the pattern on the exterior of the tent.

"I wonder who's tent this is?" I thought, "Let's take a peek before entering."

"G-Good idea…" Cherika nodded, as we both peered inside of the tent, pulling the tent flap to the side ajar and taking a peek at the tent's interior.

We didn't know what to expect as the music started to get louder and louder as we opened the tent's entrance slightly. However the exterior was much tamer in comparison to the music being played. The floor was padded with black matting, the walls were the same color as the exterior; with decal of flowers and musical notes from treble clefs, bass clefs, single and double notes dancing across the tent's pattern. There was a bed in the right corner of the room with a red and green plaid blanket cover on top, I noticed a few musical instruments, such as guitars, bass and other stringed instruments hung on wall racks of the tent walls. There was a desk with a few pages of notes scattered haphazardly on the surface and some even resting on the chair. I noticed a few pages crumpled and scattered on the floor and messily strewn near the desk, this person must have been writing something and was frustrated with the results, so they kept redoing what they were doing repeatedly..

I noticed a few band posters on the walls from famous pop groups such as Burgundy Cinco, Kaylor Quick, Sir BaBa, 10 minutes to Spring and other groups I couldn't remember the names of. To finish off the room's look I noticed a few travel postcards stickered to the walls from many different locations on the world map from Germany, London, America, South Africa and even some from here in remote parts of Japan.

The tent itself gave off a very theatrical or musical vibe, someone was definitely a fan of the music industry or was a part of it in some way shape or form. I looked closer and noticed someone sitting on a chair and playing with a red and black bass guitar with a small brown foldable desk next to them with a bunch of papers ripped or crumpled on the floor next to their feet.

"This one is no good…" they sighed, clearly a girl's voice, "Why can't the chorus just work…"

"Is that?" I wondered, trying to get a better look at them.

"S-Shion?" Cherika finished my sentence.

 **SHION'S TENT**

The songwriter was strumming the strings on the bass, whilst writing down something on a piece of paper with a somewhat displeased look on her face. The genuine frustration plastered on her countenance was very apparent as she sighed deeply, pushing back some messy maroon strands from her face and tapping her fingers on the desk she was writing on.

I noticed a bouquet of crimson spider lilies and white chrysanthemums bunched together in a blue crystal vase filled with water on top of the nightstand next to the bed. Alongside it was a black picture frame containing a picture of four girls together. Even from where I was, I could easily see the picture. A girl about Shion's height with dark blue hair tied in a long ponytail wearing a white tank top and jeans stood next to Shion, her arm wrapped around the songwriter's shoulder as she smiled. Shion had her mouth covered, but I could tell from her cheeks she was smiling too. The girl to the pair's left had short silver hair and looked to be the shortest of the group; she was still wearing what looked to be a school uniform, blazer and all. A redheaded girl was on the right; she was the tallest of the group and was dressed in a black sweatshirt and grey shorts. Like Shion and the blue haired girl, she was smiling also. They all seemed to be having a good time during that split moment captured in picture form.

"Should w-we see if s-she's okay?" Cherika asked, feeling worried for her.

"I guess so, let's pretend like we didn't see anything," I responded, both of us composing ourselves and acting like nothing was unusual as he pretended to stumble upon her tent.

"Evening, Shion," I called out to her, "How are you holding up?"

"Oh...hello, you two," she made a small smile and rested her bass guitar to the side, "I'm just a little tired is all, it's been a pretty long day."

"I-I see…" Cherika acknowledged, looking down and shuffling her feet, "W-What are you d-doing now?"

"Nothing special really," she blushed slightly, "Just working on some notes and practicing my writing is all."

"Oh okay," I noted, raising an eyebrow at her claim, "Are you sure nothing is bothering you? You seem a bit tense."

"It's very sweet of you two to be concerned about me," she giggled softly, "But I can assure you that I'm perfectly fine, just dwelling on minor things."

Despite her very honeyed words, I could tell from her nervous body language, that she was not telling us everything. Then again it's not my place to ask her if it's personal, so I might as well back off unless she feels comfortable telling us.

"That's good to hear," I smiled back, giving the songwriter a thumbs up, "Well we'll be heading out now, don't want to keep you from getting some well deserved rest."

"B-Bye Shion, good night," Cherika waved to her, giving her a nervous smile.

"Thank you, have a good night to you both as well," she waved, taking her bass guitar and resting it on the guitar rack as we left her tent.

I guess most of us were dealing with our new situation in our ways. It makes sense that some of us were a bit weary of what's going on, but on the other hand, some of the others have been taking this situation a bit too lightly honestly. Maybe I'm just overthinking it and overly paranoid ever since Monojoker mentioned a 'Killing Game'. It's probably all one big joke gone too far or something.

"I h-hope she's okay," Cherika worriedly played with her sleeves.

"Just give her some time," I patted her on the back, "We've all been dealing with a lot since coming here, so it's understandable some of us would be upset."

"I g-guess so…" Cherika despondently replied, tilting her head and sighing, "I still have a bad feeling about all of this Kichi…"

"Sis, nothing bad is going to happen, I can promise you that," I looked at her sternly, "Even if something bad did happen, like you've mentioned before, then why hasn't it occurred yet?"

"That is true….I g-guess you're right, sorry for being p-pessimistic," she replied back, timidly shaking as well, "Is that….Banri?"

I looked over to where she was looking and spotted him, the mysterious yet overly energetic boy seemed almost too jumpy as he walked along the carnival grounds, looking a bit confused but had this very smug smile on his face at the same time.

"What is he doing?" I looked on with curiosity, watching his erratic movements with an intense focus, "Is he looking for something?"

"N-Not sure…" Cherika responded, watching him as well.

Banri continued making these weird yelling noises, as he took note of a weirdly colored tent that was a mix of a camo green, black and a weird rainbow striped color interrupting the pattern. Despite looking even more bewildered by the tent in front of him, Banri went inside regardless, flailing his long sleeved arms around and rushing inside of the tent.

"DAAAAHAHAAHA! It's camping time!" he screamed, laughing like a deranged mental patient.

"S-Should we check up on him?" Cherika asked, sweat dropping at the mystery talented boy's sudden burst of energy.

"Probably for the best, to make sure he doesn't hurt himself," I sighed, scratching the back of my head, "Either that or he ends up breaking something and causing a ruckus."

Either way we looked at it, we made the conscious decision to check up on him. We walked over to the mismatched colored tent and as we made our way inside, we noticed what it looked like on the inside.

Along with having the same colors as the exterior; even with the rainbow striped pattern added in, the room looked very simplistic indeed.

The floor, unlike the other tents, had a mix between a metal and wooden layer over each other, with a few large dents made into the ground for some reason. It was very messy and looked slightly unpleasant to live in, due to the numerous amounts of throw pillows, pencils, crayons, papers, books and also a trash can with contents laying out. Gabe would flip out, if he witnessed this tent. There was a light brown large cabinet that was near the entrance to his tent; with the door looking ready to burst open with how much stuff was inside. We noticed an oddly placed cargo trunk with what looks to be an eye scanner that drew our attention but was none of our business.

There was a bookshelf in the corner of the room, pertaining to topics such as martial arts, guns, armory, blades, weapon history, military tactics, biology, types of rocks, gemstone and minerals, and oddly enough children's coloring books. The bed was a bunk with blue blankets messily untucked and ruffled around and beside the bed was pile of colored pillows.

What really took us by surprise was that there was a large area; possibly a training area where there were decimated black punching bags either torn or resting on the floor with the sand pouring out and a huge dent in the metal portion of the tent's wall.

Lastly there was a tool cabinet in another corner of the room, two trash baskets with one spilled onto the ground with a few flies hovering over it and the other one was neatly filled to the brim with what looked to be a stack of frisbees.

Considering the room's haphazard state and the amount of things going on at once, it was almost clear to us that this was Banri's tent. Despite him not remembering what his talent was, my sister and I could both tell that this tent was almost made for him; call it a gut instinct.

 **BANRI'S TENT**

"Hello, Banri?" I called out, not seeing where he was, "Anyone home?"

We ventured into his tent, a bit grossed out by it's untidy state and tried looking for the boisterous boy. We perused every corner of his room and it seemed he wasn't anywhere to be seen or found.

"H-How about the p-pile of pillows?" Cherika noted, "W-We haven't c-checked that.."

"Good idea," I agreed with the notion and approached the pile of multi colored pillows.

We approached the pillows slowly, worried that something feral would jump up and attack us, as we scattered the pillows around to the sides to see if Banri was hiding underneath them. After removing about ten pillows, we spotted the boy in question, it appeared to us that he was laying still underneath the pile, probably asleep or something.

"Is h-he alright?" Cherika asked, looking at the mystery boy curiously, "H-He's not h-hurt or anything?"

"Not sure," I looked at her, before seeing a pair of golden yellow eyes meeting mine with a smirk forming on Banri's face. His messy teal hair obscuring part of his vision as he looked at us intently.

"Dah? Greetings?" he answered to us, almost confused by our presence, "Hello you two, have you come to play?"

"Not really Banri," I sweat dropped, "We just wanted to know if you're okay?"

"DAHAHAAHA! Of course I am, Kichi!" he yelled, emerging from the pillow pile suddenly and surprising me as I fell onto my butt.

"Oof...yep...you seem to be doing well," I rubbed my backside, as Cherika rushed over to help me up.

"Spacious! Don't know why this tent is so colorful!" Banri looked around the tent, his omnipresent smirk still plastered on his face, "Who cares?! Lots of comfies and bullets!"

"U-Ummm…" Cherika was baffled for words as he jumped and hopped over to the training area.

"Metals! Metals! Bang! Bang!" he began yelling and punching the torn up bag, still somehow hanging from the chain, "DAHAHAHA!"

We watched as Banri took one punch as the bag itself eventually gave out and hit the walls of the tent and made a loud thudding noise. It was ear deafeningly loud at that, as we covered our ears from all the cacophonous sounds resonating and echoing off the metal plated walls.

"Okay then….maybe we should go," I motioned to Cherika that we should probably leave in one piece.

"Aww, you two are leaving already?" Banri noticed, tossing one of the pillows our way and hitting Cherika in the face.

"Oww…" Cherika was too late to dodge it as it slapped her in the face and fell to the ground, "I-I'm fine…."

"Yes we are, come on sis, let's go," I took her hand as we rushed out of Banri's tent as fast as we could.

"Oh okay then! Pillow party!" Banri crazily laughed, tossing more pillows around his tent, like a child happily receiving presents on his birthday.

As soon as we stepped a few feet away from his tent, I let go of my sister's hand and sighed deeply. I'd almost forgotten how extreme Banri could be given the first time we'd met him. Maybe we should keep our distance from him for a while, he almost seemed like a safety hazard at times, given his uproarious behavior.

"K-Kichi...you did it a-again," Cherika mumbled anxiously, "T-This is g-getting ridiculous…"

"Cherry…." I turned to face her, before stopping as soon as I noticed the look on her face.

Her face was slightly red from being slapped in the face with a flying pillow, her sad blue eyes looked shaky from a glance, her dark brown hair messily scattered over her shoulders and face and her overall demeanor was that of exasperated frustration.

"I-I don't want to h-hear it…." she nervously muttered, "But can you p-promise me o-one thing?"

"What is it, sis?" I asked, a bit upset at making her frantic and flustered with my overprotective tendencies.

"I-If you're going to c-continue making r-rash judgements…..d-don't p-promise anything t-then…" she stated, bluntly but with an upset tone.

It suddenly hit me that my big brother emotions got the best of me again and I looked like a total idiot for rushing out like that. I guess it was rude of us to suddenly enter Banri's tent, only to suddenly run at the first sight of danger, however I couldn't help it.

"Y-You're sure?" I questioned her remark.

"Y-Yes...I d-don't want anymore m-misleading p-promises…." she played with her coat sleeves, "Just stop w-worrying for once…"

Her words hit me right where it mattered the most, like a hammer striking the iron while it was hot. I always had a feeling she was going to say that to me at one point during our stay here. No matter how many times I say I want to get better, I still keep going back to the same rinse and repeat cycle of judging things too quickly and making rash assumptions based on my fight or flight response. I guess when you're so used to this kind of stuff happening, it's only reasonable to be skeptical of other people's motives.

"Cherry I…." a bit shocked at her choice in words, "I uh…."

"Kichi, please….t-take it e-easy for once," she looked me directly in the eyes, a look of seriousness plastered on her face, "D-Do it for n-not only my s-sake...but f-for yours as well."

"Alright….." I agreed, with a somewhat dejected but firm tone, "Just be more careful next time, you could have been seriously hurt."

"I t-think I'll b-be fine…" she turned to the side, "Y-You can't keep p-panicking and w-worrying about me all the time...it's u-unhealthy….I'm c-concerned about you, Kichi…"

While her concern was justified, I couldn't help but combat that idea with the notion that everything was going to be fine. I knew that I continue saying that everything will work out, but with the amount of stuff that's occurred in the past few hours or so, a little skepticism is warranted.

"You're right...I need to learn to let loose and enjoy myself for once," I looked down at my feet and took off my hat and brushed around my windswept hair, "Sorry, sis."

"It's f-fine….you don't need to a-apologize…" she mumbled out, making a small giggle, "T-That's what makes y-you so f-funny and t-tolerable as a b-big brother…"

I chuckled at her lame response as we made up and continued to venture the carnival grounds. We had explored some of the tent areas, about ten of them so far. So counting the number of tents left, we still had eleven more people to visit.

Let's hope they're not as wild as this first batch…..oh how wrong I was.

* * *

 **A/N** : Hello hello hello lovely people, it's so nice to see you all again after so long of not updating. I hope you all are doing well and are having a good day.

I'm sorry this chapter took forever to come out, I've been pretty up and down with my IRL life these past few weeks both physically and mentally. Due to a personal family situation, I was pretty busy and exhausted for the days I had available to write and I was feeling unmotivated as well. I've been going through a bit of a mental rough patch in my life and I'm slowly getting better, so there's that.

Anyway, that's not what you came here to read about, let's talk about this chapter. I would like to thank you all for being patient with me and waiting on the next chapter in this story that I am looking forward to writing. I know it must get annoying to have to wait a month for a new chapter and I humbly apologize for keeping you all waiting.

What did you think of the tents introduced in this chapter, to the creators who's OC got tent intros this chapter, I hope they are to your liking and if there are any changes you'd like me to make to your OC's tents, then feel free to let me know ASAP.

It took me forever, but I finally got the majority of these tents done and the last set of tents will appear in the next chapter and then we can finally get the first chapter started. I hope that's okay X3.

Also I would like to extend a thank to my lovely editors for helping me edit this long chapter that I've spent weeks making. Thank you and I appreciate the help you have given me.

Also shoutout to **Lupus Overkill** and his first ever SYOC story, **Danganronpa: Back and Forth**. He's in the middle of submissions and his deadline is soon approaching. So if you're interested in that, be sure to check it out.

Anyways that's enough out of me, I hope you all are doing well and are having a great day, night, holiday or whatever it is your celebrating and I will see you all in the next chapter or whenever I decide to post next.

Happy reading my fellow readers, authors and otaku alike, I love you all and thank you for supporting my stories and if you'd like, my second story in my saga, **Salty Waves and Bloody Coral** , has two submission spots left and you have until mid November to submit, if you have any questions, please ask me in the PM's.

That's all for now and I will see you lovely people later, bye bye!


	7. Chapter 0: A Tent Extravaganza

**Editor: Crimson Spider Lily**

* * *

"I wonder what t-the other t-tents are like?" Cherika wondered, fiddling with the butterfly hairpin in her messy brown fringe.

"Well, hopefully they're just as interesting as Monojoker makes them out to be," I responded, musing over the idea myself, "The design choices are pretty apropos, but a little on the nose if anything."

"I-It's kinda w-weird…" Cherika shrugged indifferently, "B-But this is c-carnival, a-abandoned or not…"

She's right, I guess the program wanted to fit the theme of this once child-friendly wonderland, now drenched in the ashes of its former glory or something. I didn't really see the appeal of it all honestly, they could've at least cleaned the place up a little bit more, but who am I to complain. With the rate at which we were going, maybe Gabe might be able to finish sprucing the place up.

"Ooh that t-tent looks i-interesting.." Cherika stopped walking at my side, looking at something to her left.

I turned to what she was looking at, noticing another large tent much like the others we've seen so far. This one, however, had a lavender and cream white striped pattern and didn't look familiar to us, as if it wasn't there before.

"Whose tent is that?" I pondered, raising an eyebrow in curiosity, "Have you seen it before, sis?"

"N-No Kichi..I've n-never seen it -before..." she shook her head, "Do y-you think w-we should check it out?"

"I'm not sure, but it sounds like a good idea," I agreed a bit too excitedly, "Hopefully, the owner doesn't get mad at us, like Shannon did."

We walked over to the tent in question and peered inside, hoping that we weren't disturbing or intruding upon anyone's territory, taking a quick glance at the interior. Inside was something that contrasted with the calm exterior of the tent's overall vibe and made us almost double take at the sight of it all.

Inside of the tent, I spotted decal of brown paint brushes with creme white bristles smudged in what looked to be paint. Rainbow colored paint splats and blotches messily decorated the walls while computer monitors and digital images were plastered on them as well. I noticed a rather large bed with lavender bed covers in the left corner middle of the room, white rabbit faced pillows and green pear shaped ones resting on top of it. There were a few brown shelves; about three to be exact, two lined with books of different sizes and thickness while, on the third shelf, there seemed to be electronic equipments of sorts, such as a whole bunch of cables and wires sticking out in plastic containers and boxes of old digital tablets. The floor was padded with the same dark matting. However, a white bunny shaped mat rested by the bed area while a few pieces of photoshopped and electronic art were framed on the walls. A nightstand stood next to the bed with a pair of glasses resting on it.

"T-This room is really c-colorful, I l-like it..." Cherika mumbled in awe, "V-Very artsy…"

"I know, it's almost giving me a headache," I rubbed my eyes, a bit irritated by the amount of colors that popped and contrasted with each other, "Although I think I have an idea of whose tent this might be."

"O-Oh r-really?" Cherika asked in a confused tone.

I looked deeper into the room and noticed something else that I didn't spot before. Upon further inspection, there seemed to be a wooden desk station with some drawers and a bunch of electronic equipment set up on the desk. There was a large square computer monitor left turned on and displaying the homepage, about two stereo speakers on each side of the computer, a computer hard drive that made a lot of whirring noises, a grey drawing tablet with two digital pens resting on the side, a charging station for the pens, a bunch of assorted black cables hooked into the computer hard drive and what looked like a sketchbook of sorts left opened with a few pencil smudges and marks written on the open pages.

"Someone must have been pretty busy working on something," I deduced, noticing someone inside of the tent, "Is that who I think it is?"

The figure was hunched over on the wooden desk, their arms crossed and head resting on top of the arms like a makeshift pillow and their messy long lavender hair looking untamed as it was strewn across the tabletop and messily covered part of their face. I could see bits of drool dribbling down the side of their cheek as their baggy jacket looked creased from being pressed up against the desktop the entire time.

"I-Is that J-Jun?" Cherika quietly whispered to me, "I-Is s-she asleep?"

"Seems so, this is probably her tent," I whispered quietly, "She must have been working on something and passed out or something."

 **JUN'S TENT**

The digital artist was sleeping soundly, as more drool dribbled down the side of her pale cheek as she slept, snoring quietly. I guess working so close to a computer screen all day can get very tiring after a while. Even sitting down, she still looked tall, almost around my height while standing up, which only made me more impressed by how she was able to sit comfortably at all given her rather gigantic stature and lean figure.

"S-Should we w-wake her?" Cherika asked nervously, "She l-looks extremely e-exhausted.."

"Probably for the better, she doesn't look responsive or seems to be moving much at all," I worriedly thought, "Let's just check up on her before moving on."

Cherika nodded in agreement, feeling solicitous for Jun as we both entered her tent, hoping she didn't mind us coming in unannounced. We tiptoed over to the digital artist sneakily, looking over at her almost comatose, hunched over state as I tapped her on the shoulder, trying my best to see if she was still alive or just sleeping.

"Jun, are you okay?" I asked, hoping she'd respond.

I felt her body twitch momentarily as she shifted around in her black swivel chair, motioning herself as she suddenly outstretched her rather long arms to the ceiling and yawned loudly, sounding almost like an animal that awoke from hibernation. Her arms looked gangly from how long they appeared to be and I heard a few pops and cracks as she relaxed and let them swing to her side, which probably meant she had been sleeping like this for an hour or two.

"Oh...hello there you two," she sleepily acknowledged us, pushing back some lavender strands of her messy tangled hair and pushed her fingers up to her face, almost simulating putting on her glasses, "That's odd?….I swear I left my glasses somewhere around here…did I lose them again?"

Remembering where she left them, I retrieved them from the nightstand near her bed, handing them over to her as she sleepily looked around her desk, swishing her hands out aimlessly like someone searching for tiny insects or a pair of misplaced contact lenses. I tapped her on the shoulder once, hoping to get her attention as she turned around to face my general direction.

"Who is.. there?" she wondered inquisitively, squinting her eyes to get a better look.

"Here you go Jun, I found them!" I told her happily, opening up her glasses, "Just hold still for a moment."

She sat upright and still as I placed the glasses over her face, framing it perfectly on the bridge of her nose, even though I had to angle it weirdly so it appeared natural-looking on her face. For once, I had to extend my arms up just a little to reach her face, which was kind of awkward if anything. I guess it can't be helped if she was born this way, poor thing.

"Oh, there they are..thanks uh…" she swayed back and forth in her chair, blowing some hair out of her face, "I'm sorry…. who are you two again?"

I sweatdropped worriedly at her forgetfulness, hoping we didn't have to do this every time we interacted with her. I guess not only did she have a tendency to sleep while working at her station, but it seemed she can be a bit of an airhead at times as well. Then again, we did just meet her, so first impressions are bound to misguide us at some point during our stay here.

"I'm Ekichirou Yoshirenku," I responded, dusting off my blue jean jacket, "This is my sister, Cherika, we've met earlier remember, you were observing the sunset and trying to draw it?"

"H-Hello J-Jun," Cherika gave her a small wave, "Y-Your artwork is a-amazing…"

"...Oh yeah...I know you two, thanks for reminding me again," she nodded her head slowly, after staring listlessly at our faces for about a few seconds, "Sorry...I was just lost in thought is all."

"It's alright, it happens," I chuckled amusingly, "What are you working on by any chance? Did someone ask you for a commission?"

"Not really...it's nothing much….just a few side projects I've been putting on hold," she spoke softly, yawning once more, this time a bit louder, "I've not had much luck with these older works….motivation tends to come and go as you can tell."

"T-That's true...it h-happens to me sometimes…" Cherika walked over to the digital artist, observing her computer setup, "All of t-this technology is s-so i-impressive….I-I'm more used to t-traditional art t-though."

"Is that so…" Jun noticed, pushing up her glasses even though they were properly set on her face, "Then, can I get you two's opinion on this piece I'm working on?"

"O-Of course!" Cherika chimed excitedly, "I-I'm not v-very good at judging o-others work, but I-I'll do my b-best!"

"I don't mind," I shrugged, looking at the computer screen, "Not really an artist myself, but I can appreciate good talent when I see it."

"Alrightee….." she stretched tiredly once more, zoning out for few more seconds.

My sister and I waited for a few seconds, hoping to get a look at what she was working on but got no response. We turned to face the digital artist, only to see her staring blankly at the ceiling, almost daydreaming in her own little world as she blissfully ignored us.

"Jun!" I snapped my fingers, hoping to get her attention, "You still with us?"

"Oh sorry….was thinking of something else, give me one sec…" she took to her mouse and clicked on a few tabs on her home page window, "Here we are…"

She clicked on a blue icon with a white P on the tab as we entered the photoshop window. As the page popped up on screen, my sister and I saw what looked to be a neatly drawn, but half painted sketch of something. Even though the artwork itself looked unfinished in general, I was still amazed by what I saw.

On the white blank canvas was a picture of some sort of flower, which looked to be a sweet pea surrounded by a bunch of bees flying around it. However, the sweet pea flower seemed to be half finished, with the bright purple petals dripping along the lines of the electronic white canvas, some of the green leaves were colored and shaded in different hues of dark green, to give the illusion of light and shadow. There were about five bees surrounding the flower in particular and a butterfly resting on top of the sweet pea, sucking its nectar casually. The butterfly's wings shimmered a bluish violet color, while the bees surrounding the flower were painted black and yellow as they buzzed merrily in sync with each other as they gathered bright yellow pollen from the other flowers in the background.

"And?" Jun asked, awaiting our responses.

"This looks really beautiful Jun," I stared in awe at the drawing, observing every minute detail, "Your use of colors and shading are amazing, it's almost as if I'm looking at a real life flower itself!"

"Thanks….I've been meaning to work on this for a while…" she swayed around in her chair like a scarecrow in the wind, "I don't know why I chose to work on it today…..maybe I was bored?"

"I'm n-not really a-an expert on d-digital art...but how about shading the b-bees.." Cherika remarked, pointing at one of the buzzing bees in the drawing, "Maybe to c-contrast the cool c-colors of each i-individual f-flower?"

"You know what….that might actually work," Jun stood up from her chair, stretching again and yawning tiredly, "Although...I might work on it another time….feeling kind of sleepy right now."

"Well good luck with your work Jun," I gave the digital artist a thumbs up, applauding her half finished sketch, "Can't wait to see it when it's done!"

"Oh..y-yeah….g-good night J-Jun," Cherika smiled, looking up at the tall Ultimate and waved to her, "Y-You earned it…"

"Night…" Jun removed her glasses from her face, walking to her bed resting them on the nightstand. The digital artist plopped down on the bed and had a hard time adjusting her body comfortably with the mattress, fumbling around with the blanket covers as well so she didn't feel sweltered.

"Good night Jun," I bade her goodnight, walking out of her tent as my sister followed.

We both left the digital artist's tent and looked up towards the sky, noticing it started to grow darker and darker as the evening slowly crept up on us. The rich warm colors of the radiant air transitioned into crisp purples, pinks and blues, each one blending seamlessly into the other, like a kaleidoscopic sherbet of colors. It looked like a mixed ice cream flavor that I desperately wanted to taste, it was that glorious and magnificent in view.

"It's getting late, sis," I looked at my sister, covering her mouth as she yawned, "Do you want to go back to our tent and go to sleep?"

"N-Not really…" she mumbled, wiggling around anxiously, "I think w-we should m-meet the others f-first before going to b-bed."

"Might as well get it over with, who knows, maybe something scintillating might happen?" I mused on the idea, nodding my head, "Alright, let's do some more exploring."

"O-Ok…" she made a small smile and followed close behind me.

We continued walking along the path of the tent area, hoping to encounter some new areas of interest or maybe pass by someone new that we've met already. As we went along with our business I spotted some of the others we've encountered already passing by.

We saw Chris getting his arm bandaged by Itsuki near the EMT's tent. It seemed Itsuki was rolling his eyes at the tragic knight as Chris tried his best to hold still, wincing in pain from his workout related injury. The EMT started berating the knight, almost scolding him for his dumb mistake like a parent would to their child. The tragic knight stared at the rambling EMT as a few beads of sweat trailed down his body from his workout.

"Poor guy, I hope he feels better soon," I sweatdropped myself, looking at the scene unfold, "At least we have someone who's trained in these sort of medical procedures."

"Yeah...h-hey Kichi….d-do you s-smell that?" Cherika sniffled, rubbing her nose in irritation, "It s-smells really s-sweet, almost like c-candy?"

"Yeah... I smell it too," I responded, sniffing the air and catching the scent as well, "Smells almost minty, like toothpaste."

"I w-wonder what it i-is?" Cherika thought, twirling her hair around her finger.

"Let's look around, sis, maybe somebody is cooking something?" I said, looking around the area some more.

"P-Probably…" she thought, following close behind me.

We kept sniffing and searching around the tent grounds like bloodhounds, looking as if we had seasonal allergies or something from how silly we looked. The wafting aromatic scent grew stronger and more intoxicating as we got closer and closer, until we came across another large tent area with the flap entrance left open. This tent in particular was colored light green and light blue with the same stripe pattern as the other ones, giving off a very calming, mellow vibe.

"Mmm...this smells so fragrant," I smiled delightfully, entranced by the scent of mint, "Is that steam?"

"Is s-someone m-making tea?" Cherika asked, putting two and two together, "I w-wonder who's brewing it?"

"I have a hunch it might be that person," I smirked, remembering only one person with an oddly specific talent, "Let's check it out."

"Alright…" she meekly responded.

Allured by the minty tea fragrance, we walked inside of the tent, following the white steam that poured out from the tent's entrance. As we arrived inside, we saw what the interior looked like, almost baffled by how simple yet elegant it was in both decor and design.

The interior was plastered with decal of different colored leaves of all shapes and sizes, each a shade of green, red or black, also noticing some white teapots, silver spoons and white sugar clumps printed onto the interior walls as well. It was almost royal-like in decoration. I spotted a bed in the left corner of the room, with light green blankets and white pillows neatly fluffed with the covers tucked into the bed frame while, next to the bed, there was a brown desk-like night stand with a small fanny pack on top of it with other miscellaneous items such as pens and paper. I saw a mahogany polished round wooden table in the middle of the room. The table was large enough to seat about six or seven people. A tea set, consisting of a grey kettle, seven white porcelain tea cups, rested on it as well as a few assorted tea leaves in clear mason jars and two different sized metal containers with royal imprints, probably containing both milk and sugar. Underneath the tea set were white doilies and a few freshly cut white rose bouquets on either side of the set with water swimming inside of each clear vase.

There were four seats at the table, despite the number of tea cups available, and each was hand-carpented with a wooden shine to them. The seats were cushioned with a royal red soft surface and had embroidered armrests with a fancy curly design at the top of each chair. I also noticed a mini kitchen stove in the far right corner of the room, with a few kettles boiling over with steam and a small wooden cabinet next to the stove left open, displaying an array of tea leaves, tea packets and boxes of sugar and cartons of milk. There was a glass cabinet next to the stoves that contained priceless chinaware with each bearing a traditional Japanese symbol such as sakura petals or ancient carvings on the edges of each plate. I saw a few shelves in the back middle of the room, with books lined neatly along the shelves and an armoire probably filled with clothes as well. Lastly to finish off the fancy-esque design of the tent, there were a few paintings of what seemed to be royal couples from noble families all sitting together and enjoying cups of tea, some making a toast and others sticking their pinkies out as if it were commonplace to perform that simple act.

"T-This tent l-looks so f-fancy," Cherika's eyes widened, amazed by what she saw, "L-Like a f-five star r-restaurant…"

"My thoughts exactly, sis," I looked around some more, impressed by what I saw as well, "It seems someone is making tea right now."

Brushing some misty steam out of my face, I got a better image of the interior and spotted two people inside of the tent. One of them was attending to the kettles simmering on top of the heated stove while the other one was sitting comfortably in one of the chairs, with a tea cup resting on the table next to them.

The person making tea added in some tea leaves and was rather tall, with their jet black hair spiked and gelled back as they stirred a spoon around in a boiling pot. The other person was sitting comfortably, their long brown hair rested on the armrests, flowing behind their back, and they were wearing a baggy brown sweater that looked snug to the touch.

"Ah! Welcome to my tent, Mr. and Ms. Yoshirenku," a polite voice spoke, looking to face us as we stood near the door frame, "Please come in, I'm almost done with this fresh batch of tea."

"Asahi?" I asked, hearing that courteous tone of voice before, "Is that you?"

"Who else would it be?" he asked, confused by my remark as if he were hearing it for the first time, "Did you two need something?"

"Oh n-nothing, just dropping by to say hi," I answered, a bit delayed if anything, "You have a such a nice tent, looks swanky!"

 **ASAHI'S TENT**

"Why thank you, please take a seat," he directed us to the table, "If you'd like anything to eat, I'm also preparing some biscuits as well, please wait a few minutes."

"O-Oh okay…" Cherika responded, a bit perplexed, walking over to one of the available seats.

"Let me get that for you sis," I said, pulling out a seat for her.

"Thanks Kichi…." she meekly thanked me, pushing back her sweater jacket and sitting on the chair almost uneasily.

"Oh...you two are here," said a despondent sounding female voice, "Didn't see you there…"

I was about to take my seat when I noticed the voice as well, looking up and seeing who it was. From their groggy voice, black bags underneath their droopy eyes and their distinct charm, I knew it had to be them.

"Oh! Good evening Tsukae," I waved to the sleepy charmer, "Didn't see you there, haha."

"Whatever…" she sleepily yawned, taking a sip of tea from her cup, pushing back some strands of her long brown hair.

"H-How are you?" Cherika asked her, noticing the sleepy expression on her countenance.

"Could be better…." the charmer sleepily shrugged, giving a very indifferent response, "Nothing interesting.."

From the grumpy look on her face, she seemed rather tired, if not irritated having to talk with us as if we were wasting her precious minutes. For someone called the Ultimate Charmer, I didn't really see the appeal to her all that much. If she didn't look half asleep most of the time and didn't sound so apathetic, I'd say she was kind of cute, which might explain a bit of her charm, but judging based on looks is very skewed and biased in of itself. As of right now, I was still a bit dubious of her claims, if her talent was real.

"S-So how w-was your nap?" Cherika asked the charmer again, wriggling around in her seat, "D-Did you s-sleep well, Tsukae?"

"Meh….terribly I guess," she bluntly said, with an emotionless tone in her voice, "Haven't really gotten any sleep since arriving here…this place is….strange."

"Oh? Do you have insomnia or something?" I asked her, crossing my arms and sitting almost lax in my chair, "Maybe that's why you can't sleep?"

"Don't know….don't really care…" she sipped some more tea, brushing off my comment, "I was hoping this tea would help me stay awake….what a waste."

The charmer eyed the teacup with a blank stare, sighing deeply, before grabbing a metal container and pouring some milk and dropping two sugar cubes inside. It seemed she poured a little too much of each as the rosy transparent color of the tea turned to a milky brown muddy color almost instantly as the clumps of sugar floated to the top of the teacup.

Tsukae didn't seemed too upset as she sipped it casually and recoiled stoically, placing the cup back onto the table. The tea was probably still lukewarm from not being drunk for so long and the taste must have been overshadowed by the intense sweetness from both the milk and sugar.

"This tea is kind of bland…" she shook her head in disappointment, "Asahi made it taste too bitter….not even sugar helps."

"Oh, is there a problem, Ms. Shinzou?" Asahi approached her, looking almost upset by her coarse words, "Do you need a fresh cup of tea or a few biscuits?"

"No….but thanks I guess," she pouted lethargically, standing up from her seat, "I'm going to go take a walk or something...who knows….I need something to keep me occupied."

With that Tsukae walked out of the tea brewer's tent, but at a rather slow and almost lethargic pace as if she was inflicted with some type of physical illness. Maybe she needed a bit more than just a nap if she's going to feel any better. Plus she's going to crash soon from all the sugar, so hopefully she makes it back to her tent in time before that happens.

"Are you two comfortable?" the tea brewer inquired politely, cupping his hands together and looking at us with a concerned face, "Do you need any napkins? Sugar? Milk?"

"N-No thank you…" Cherika told him, surprised by his sudden hospitality, "T-Thanks though…."

"We're cool Asahi, is the tea almost ready?" I asked, spotting the kettle boiling over quite a bit, "Seems you have your hands full as is, heh."

"Oh, thank you for reminding me," he noticed the kettle, rushing over to it quickly, "I'd almost forgotten, do you two have any tea flavor preferences?"

"Hmm...not really?" I responded, unsure of what flavors he was offering, "Do you have any particular recommendations?"

The tea brewer cupped his hands to his chin as he mused over my question for a few seconds, fiddling with the red bow tie around his neck, humming to himself. It almost seemed he was very ecstatic to hear us wanting his opinion, as if he'd never heard of someone asking him that before.

"I have quite a selection at my disposal," he responded, rubbing his hands together happily, "But I recommend the oolong tea, it's one of my specialities and I stand by that claim!"

"What do you think sis?" I asked her, wondering what she wanted, "Want to to try it?"

"S-Sounds g-good…" she nodded nervously, "I'd like that A-Asahi…"

"Very well, excellent choice," he smiled, rubbing his hands together as he headed over to the stove, "I'll just be a few minutes, the water is almost done boiling."

As we waited patiently for the tea brewer to finish making the tea, I continued looking at his tent some more. I was still astonished by how proper and regal it looked, compared to the whimsical nature of the other tents, it was almost breathtaking in comparison.

"How's your arm sis?" I asked, looking at her left arm covered by her sweater sleeve, noticing parts of the white wrap bandage sticking out, "Are you still hurt?"

"It's f-fine Kichi…" she rubbed it, pulling the sleeve up hoping no one else would notice it, "It'll b-be better soon…"

"That's good to hear," I happily smiled, as the steam from the stovetop blew into my face, "Wow! This smells so good!"

"Here you are," Asahi announced, holding a silver tray, "It's teatime!"

The tea brewer rested the rectangular tray on the round table in front of us as he began arranging two doilies and two teacups for each of us. He almost looked like a waiter with how courteous he was and I can tell from his somewhat traditional-looking tent, he probably must have been taught a lot about table manners and common courtesy in his line of work.

"Here we have your oolong tea," he held a white china teapot, with intricate flower designs along the edges, carefully pouring the tea into our two cups, "Be careful, it's very hot."

"T-Thank you, A-Asahi.." Cherika smiled meekly, as he poured tea into her cup first, "T-This smells d-delicious!"

He then poured me my cup of tea as he rested the teapot back onto the silver tray, wiping his hands with a white table cloth he rested around his right arm. I eyed my tea and noticed the rosy-colored liquid swimming inside of it, as faint white steam spread throughout the tent and perfumed it in minty and flowery goodness.

"As for snacks, we have strawberry shortcake biscuits, cucumber sandwiches and mini hors d'oeuvres," he then gave a small bow right afterwards, "I hope you two enjoy your evening snack."

"Thanks Asahi," I thanked him, taking a strawberry biscuit and biting into it, "Mhm! This so sweet!"

"R-Really?" Cherika wondered, grabbing a cookie from the tray, and nibbling on it, "Ooh! T-This is so y-yummy! So...sweet!"

In the corner of my eye, I could see the tea brewer watching us intently enjoy his food, chuckling to himself as he continued attending to his wares and stovetop. He must have been proud of himself from our positive reactions to his tea and snacks, which I'm not surprised about since it's his title, which made me wonder why he wanted to get rid of it so much if he was content with serving others. I guess I'll find out some other time.

"Do you want to wait for your tea to cool before drinking it, sis?" I asked, noticing she hadn't touched her cup at all.

"I-I think so….j-just to be s-safe.." she nervously eyed it, the wafting scent alluring her senses and tempting her to taste it immediately, "T-Too bad we don't h-have any ice c-cubes…"

"That's true," I observed the table setting and noticed that Asahi didn't have an icebox anywhere, "Oh well, maybe next time we'll ask."

Despite my initial worry about the tea, we both had a fun time binging on snacks and talking about random things. The more and more we spent time in this tent, it felt as if it were an actual restaurant and not somewhere where someone would sleep and reside. I just hope Asahi didn't make us pay for his services, then that'd be another story.

"Hello hello, is that tea I smell?" called out a female voice that sounded very familiar, "Ooh smells teariffic!"

I looked towards the entrance of Asahi's tent and noticed a girl walking in leisurely, a smile spread across her freckled face and her white lab coat flowing behind her from the steam and gas buildup.

"Oh! It's you, Ekichirou!" the voice chimed, almost energetically, "Having a good time?"

"Oh, hello Aki!" I turned around to greet the research scientist, wearing her goggles over her face to protect her eyes from the steam, "How are you?"

"I'm doing fantastic, thanks for asking!" she giggled enthusiastically, strands of her straggly honey brown hair resting on her shoulders "You must be his sister, it's so nice to meet you!"

"S-Same...I'm C-Cherika," she greeted her nervously, "I-I like your l-look, very s-sciency!"

"Thanks, although I just came by to see what everyone else was up to," she said, clutching onto her satchel bag, "It seems I'm missing out on the fun here, oh well~"

"Oh, hello there Ms. Sasaki," the tea brewer noticed her presence also, "Care for some oolong tea and strawberry biscuits?"

"No thank you, I just had a cup of orange juice and potato chips earlier," she smiled happily, tapping her foot on the ground, "Hey, do you two want to see want to see my tent after your meal?"

I thought it over in my head, while Cherika was sipping slowly on her teacup, trembling a little as Aki waited for my response. I mean she seemed very kind and harmless, so I didn't mind humoring her for a while. Even if the sudden invite to her tent did come out of left field.

"Sure, why not?" I nodded my head, "Let's go sis."

"Alright...I w-was kind of f-full anyway.." she stood up from her seat, pushing it in carefully.

"Awesome! Follow me you two," the scientist happily cheered, "I promise it won't be a "boron" time! Hehehe~"

Oh yeah, I forgot she liked to make a lot of science puns, this is going to be a long one. Oh well, time to brace myself for it all: puns, jokes and much more.

"Thank you for the tea and snacks, Asahi," I waved to the tea brewer, "Good night!"

"N-Night Asahi.." Cherika waved to him as well, licking her lips from the leftover biscuit crumbs.

"I bid you three a good night as well," he bowed again, a small smile formed on his face, "Sleep well."

We left his tent, escaping the intoxicating aroma of tea and followed Aki whilst walking past a few more tents in the area.

It seemed as if not much time had passed, as I looked up at the sky; approaching night time, but it was on the cusp of breaking dusk. The velvet purples and the cool blues mixed with the faded hues of orange and pink filled the evening with a cool breeze, almost shivering cold to say the least. Since we were in some kind of desert area, the nights must get cold around this time of day. I hope the program had lots of space heaters in that case or if the tents were properly insulated to contain warmth during the late hours.

"So how are you holding up Aki?" I asked her, following close behind the research scientist.

"I'm just fine, thanks for asking, Kichi!" she skipped with a gait in her step, "I'm kind of excited for this program to start soon, an endless world full of new possibilities awaits us, it's simply amazing!"

"You're awfully chipper," I noted, a bit taken back by how bright her face lit up with excitement, "What's the occasion?"

"Oh, nothing really," she remarked, "Just the idea that I get to have a fresh start at life, just sparks my ions!"

The optimistic tone in her voice felt like a ray of sunshine in this desolate-looking amusement park. Despite the cold atmosphere, the research scientist seemed almost gayfully ignorant of the situation she was in. I guess it was nice to see, it's not everyday you get to see people like her so eager to get things done.

"Here we are!" she chirped excitedly, "Welcome to my humble new home away from home!"

She headed inside of her tent, with the exterior having a dark blue, white and forest dark green striped pattern. She dusted her feet on a light blue carpet before entering, which had an imprinted black design shaped like a ferris wheel with its structure consisting of the element 'Iron' with its periodic symbol, 'Fe' making up the octagon like circle of the wheel. It was a neat little design to compliment her quirky personality, as well as gimmicky for this abandoned carnival setting.

"Let's g-go inside, K-Kichi…" Cherika motioned me to head inside, nudging at my back.

"Oh right, sorry sis," I hesitated, before opening up the flap and entering the scientist's tent and taking a look inside, "After you.."

 **AKI'S TENT**

As we followed the exuberant research scientist inside of her tent, we were greeted with a sight that was more akin to a laboratory than a personal bedroom or tent. On the walls were decals of brightly colored chemicals spilt over and bubbling white steam, atomic symbols with the names of each element underneath and a bunch of miscellaneous test tubes and apparatus you'd see in a high school chemistry class.

Her bed was in the far left corner of the room with a brown nightstand next to her bed, with a small stuffed squirrel toy and a picture resting on top of the desk that I couldn't make out from afar, as well as a wooden brown armoire for her clothes. I spotted about three different granite top lab tables all with a sticker decal of the periodic table lined on each, making it look like a periodic elements chart from above. On each table there were a few chemicals boiling on each bunsen burner tops, one was a purple chemical that was fizzing white mist onto the table, another was a bubbling green chemical that seemed ready to explode at any moment's notice while another was a blue chemical that seemed stagnant and unresponsive at the moment.

I spied a few large basin sinks with about five taps to each one, probably used for cleaning up chemistry equipment as well as a few glass test tubes resting inside; having been properly scrubbed clean. In the right corner of the room, I spotted a white cabinet that was marked with the label 'Goggles' in bright black letters and, next to them, I spotted a shower like system used in case someone got chemical waste on their person. Next to her bed, I spotted three white lab coats racked up on a metal hook and two black bins: one was for broken glass and apparatus while the other was for dangerous chemical spills with special plastic bags used to contain the trash. To finish off the scientific aesthetic of her tent, on the padded mat floor, there was a hydrogen atom-shaped dark blue carpet, a few posters on the wall with science puns and jokes with famous scientists that related to each pun. To top it all off, I spotted a few cute animal stuffed plushies resting on top of her forest green bed covers, all stacked on top of each other with a few plushies having fallen onto the floor.

"W-Wow...I l-like your r-room, A-Aki," Cherika twirled around, staring in awe at the room, "V-Very g-geeky and n-nerdy, s-so cool."

"Thank you Cherry," Aki smiled happily, giggling to herself and heading over to attend to the fizzy green liquid on the second table.

"What are you doing, Aki?" I asked her, "Should we stay away from that?"

"Oh, it's nothing, just boiling some ethyl acetate," she explained, putting her goggles over her face and checking the elasticity of her light blue gloves by pulling on them, "Just stay a few feet away from me, ok?"

"Alright!" I stepped back, making sure Cherika was close behind, "Stand back, sis."

"O-Okay…" she nodded her head nervously, watching Aki attend to the potentially dangerous chemical.

We both stood at a fair distance, observing the research scientist closely as she stirred the concoction with a glass spoon and began adding what looked like white tablet pills or something. Was she making some type of drug? Is she involved with a shady group of people? Should I be more worried, in that case?

"Alright!" Aki cheered, clapping her hands together and grabbing the hot beaker carefully with metal tongs, "Do you two want to try some?"

My sister and I looked at each other unison, unsure of what she meant, hoping she was joking.

"I-Isn't that a d-dangerous c-chemical?" Cherika asked, a bit afraid of what the scientist had in store for us.

"Oh it's nothing harmful, silly~" she teased playfully, "It might give you gas, but it's the good kind of gas like oxygen!"

"If you say so…" I crossed my arms, raising an eyebrow at her intentions as she grabbed a few normal drinking glasses from a nearby cupboard and poured the green liquid inside of each glass.

"Here you are!" Aki presented the glasses to us, as we took them from her, "Enjoy!"

I held the glass in my hand, a bit shakily if anything. Despite seeing that the liquid was boiling earlier, it was cold to the touch, almost as if it were like a cool can of soda left inside of the freezer for too long.

"Here goes nothing!" I said, drinking the entire thing whole in one gulp, "Huh...it's not dangerous, that's odd."

I looked at my sister, she took a tiny sip of the strange green liquid and tasted it on her tongue. She was confused but at the same time oddly pleased as well.

"I-It's s-soda?" Cherika asked, tasting a bit more of the drink, "M-Melon soda!"

"Yep yep!" Aki smiled happily, "I got you both good, the look on your faces was so funny! You two thought I was serving you a lethal chemical! Your reactions were priceless!"

The scientist started giggling uncontrollably, seemingly amused by her innocuous prank as I sweatdropped at her antics while Cherika half heartedly giggled as well. I stared at the two girls with an unimpressed look as Cherika dropped the glass onto the floor, spilling the rest of the liquid onto the padded floors and clutching her stomach tightly.

"Ugh…Kichi...Aki.." Cherika groaned, "I don't feel so g-good.."

"Oh my goodness!" Aki stopped laughing and looked at my sister worriedly, "Is she alright, I-I didn't m-mean to make her s-sick."

"Come on sis, let's get you to one of the sinks!" I rushed over to her side, holding up her hair as we headed over to the sinks, "Did you spike her drink with something!?"

"No, I didn't!" Aki said defensively, reassuring me that the drink wasn't poisoned, "I just added pill sized ice cubes inside to cool off the solution, that's all! I didn't mean to hurt her!"

My skin turned a pale white color as my sister was hunched over the sinks' metal frame. Her face contorted almost as if she ate a lemon whole, her lips shook, her eyes were shut tight and her face was flushed red with pain.

"Urrrrrpp!" she burped out loud, the noise rang through our eardrums as if it were a ringing bell, "Uhh….."

"Cherry!" I helped her up from the sink, "Are you alright? You're not sick!?"

"N-No Kichi….I g-guess it was a c-case of b-bad gas…" she wiped her mouth from some saliva dripping down her chin, "I g-guess I didn't eat that m-much…"

I sighed with relief, lowering my head and wiping some sweat from my brow. If it was just soda, I shouldn't have been that accusatory towards Aki or jumped the gun. Now I feel like an idiot for rushing to conclusions.

"Thank goodness…." Aki put her hand over her heart, "I'm so sorry you two, I didn't intend for my little prank to cause you indigestion, Cherry."

"I-It's alright A-Aki….y-you didn't m-mean any h-harm…" Cherika assuaged her guilt, covering her mouth as she made another small burp, "Urp…"

"I think that's enough of that for one night...we'll be leaving now," I stood close to my sister, holding her up to make sure she didn't fall over, "Later Aki."

"I do hope you feel better soon, Cherry!" Aki calmed down, smiling contently, "Good night you two, have fun exploring the rest of the amusement park!"

The research scientist skipped merrily to her coat rack and began removing her lab coat, resting it on the rack as my sister and I left her to go somewhere else. I guess my paranoia was kind of off lately, I assumed that Aki was just a friendly and kind soul, but I guess she has some tricks up her sleeve too. Then again, she was rather apologetic about it, so I'm kind of mixed on that notion as a whole.

"Are you sure you're alright, sis?" I asked as we left Aki's tent and went back outside, "Do you need to lie down?"

"N-Not really Kichi...just a l-little gassy is a-all…" she moaned, covering her mouth as she let out a small burp, "C-Calm down…"

"Alright...just be sure to let me know if you need anything, okay?" I told her.

"Okay K-Kichi…" she sighed deeply, pulling her sweater jacket closer to her, hugging her skin nervously.

After that little episode, my sister and I walked around the carnival tent grounds some more, hoping to find something else of interest.

We passed by Shannon and Shion, noticing the two girls bumping into each other as they started talking with each other. The runner looked a bit disturbed by the songwriter bumping into her, but Shion was able to calmly talk with Shannon as the two walked somewhere else. I guess there are some people that are able to tame her anger, I wish Shion luck.

"Oh, it's you two," said a male voice from closeby.

I turned to face who it was and came face to face with Daiko, casually standing next to a light pole as he was looking up at the evening sky. The attorney's forest green hair sparkled in the moonlight, giving it a slicker shine even with it being greased back, his blue green silk dress shirt was unbuttoned a bit more, revealing part of his chest as he took a few deep breaths in, absorbing the cool air from the desert wind.

"Good evening Daiko," I greeted him casually as my sister and I approached him, "How are you adjusting to the amusement park?"

"Meh, it's not exactly up to my standards, but at least we're given somewhere to rest," he shrugged it off, rolling his eyes, "I'd kill for a more comfortable bed, but I take what I can get."

I guess he was taking this situation a bit more calmly than I originally suspected he would. He was one of the few people to question the legitimacy of Monojoker's claims, so I didn't expect someone like him to acclimatize so quickly.

"W-What are y-you doing out here?" Cherika asked him, shivering a bit from the evening cold.

The attorney looked at the both of us from top to bottom, almost as if he were evaluating us or something. His eyes trained up and down, looking at our appearance and our attire, almost like a disapproving mother judging our school clothes for the next day, with a serious look plastered on his face.

"Nothing, just getting some fresh air," he explained, brushing some hair strands back, "And also avoiding The Queen Of Crazy."

"Q-Queen of C-Crazy?" Cherika asked inquisitively, unsure of what he meant, "W-Who's that?"

"Heh, it's just a silly pet name I gave to our resident prosecutor," he smirked with a huff, "I've known her long enough to give her a fitting nickname that suits her unique traits, if you catch my drift."

I mean Galiana is a bit over the top and dramatic, but she didn't really come off as threatening or aggressive to us. Then again, those two must have had their fair share of courtroom battles, rivalling each other at some points, so whatever floats his boat, I suppose.

"I was about to head back to my tent," he gestured, standing up straight and putting his hands in his pockets, "Want to take a quick peek?"

"S-Sure," Cherika said, "A-Anything to g-get out of the c-cold for a b-bit.."

"Why not?" I smiled, "If we're going to spend most of our time together, it makes sense to see what our neighbors tents are like."

"Yeah, sure….." Daiko muttered to himself, walking past us and heading off to his tent with his hands in his pocket.

"I guess he wants us to follow him," I sweatdropped at his indifference, "How forward."

"S-Seems so…" Cherika did the same, following close behind me.

We followed the defense attorney, keeping a fair distance behind him as he arrived at his tent. His tent was a bright green and shimmering gold stripe pattern, which was very harsh on the eyes even in the dim moonlight. He dusted his feet on a brown doormat and hopped on inside, not even inviting us in as if we weren't there. I guess he's not much of a courteous host himself, oh well, at least he offered to show us his tent this time, so beggars can't be choosers.

"What a guy…" my sister and I said in unison, as we both did the same and went on inside.

 **DAIKO'S TENT**

As soon as we entered the attorney's tent, we were greeted with an incandescent array of bright and blinding metallic chromes and colors. I had to adjust my eyes and blink a few times before finally getting a better look at what was inside of his tent. I know lawyers like him make a lot of money, but with his tent, I almost did a double take at how opulent and luxurious it looked like on the inside.

On the interior walls, I spotted decals of what looked to be creme brown bags with a black dollar symbol on the front with a few green dollar bills and silver yen coins spilling out from the top, golden attorney's badges with a judge's scale in the center and the words 'Innocent' or 'Guilty' plastered in black lettering. It kind of emphasized his status as a lawyer, meaning he probably knew it like the back of his hand and won a lot of cases, which could explain the grand decor.

For the furniture, I spotted a bed in the right corner of the room, with silk pillow covers and silk royal blue blanket covers neatly tucked into the corners with a well carpented bed frame. I noticed that his tent was similar to that of a defense attorney's office of sorts, even though I hadn't the foggiest idea of what one would look like aside from watching crime dramas.

There were a few bookshelves filled with law books and other nonfiction literature with complex titles and authors I wasn't familiar with as well as some paperwork stuffed inside each book that made it look more messy in comparison to the opulence of the rest of the room. There was a large hand-carved mahogany desk with fancy etchings and details near the corner of the room with manilla files and folders scattered on the desk, with a few pens and pencil in a pencil basin and some other paperwork that looked too important for my sister and I to comprehend. I spotted a few black and brown leather couches in the room; all looked like it was made from actual animal hides with how shiny they looked. His floor was matted with the same black matting, but there was a royal red carpet on the flooring above it making it stand out from the other tents' floor. There was a nightstand next to his bed with a gold judge scale like alarm clock resting on the desk reading the time, a large armoire with gold engravings on the edges; filled with very expensive looking shirts, pants and suits that seemed fit for an upper class businessman all neatly pressed and organized in a color-coded fashion. I spotted a few potted plants lined around the room and there was a large fish tank of sorts filled with all sorts of exotic colorful fishes swimming inside the pristine azure waters all bubbling around. Lastly, to finish off the room's almost formal design, I spotted a large black safe-like container resting in the empty space on the opposite side of his room, which looked like something you'd see in one of those heist movies or in national banks. I guess Daiko made a lot of money if he's able to obtain a safe of that size and magnitude, he must be from a wealthy family or something.

"Wow…" I whistled, stunned by how magnificent yet simple his tent looked, "You've got a nice living situation here, Daiko."

"Meh...this is nothing new to me," he shrugged it off, seemingly used to living so lavishly, "Could have added a bit more to the design, but I'm not an interior decorator."

"S-So shiny...l-like gold…" Cherika muttered, taking a look around the room and eyeing its many wonders like a child in a toy store, scoping out the new wares.

"Well, you might want to leave now," he insisted, unbuttoning his shirt slowly, "I'm going to pretend to go to sleep so that the crazy prosecutor doesn't barge in-"

"Greetings my fated rival!" bursted out a loud voice, "I've come to check up on you!"

"Oh dear lord…" Daiko groaned, seemingly having recognized that voice as if it grated his ears on a daily basis, "Speak of the fucking devil…"

My sister and I turned to see who it was as some wind picked up behind a person who barged inside unannounced. Their cape fluttered in the wind behind them as their royal blue suit looked more regal every time we saw it.

"O-Oh Galiana…" Cherika said, noticing the prosecutor enter the tent, "W-Why are you here?"

"Oh, I didn't know the King of Liars had invited his future prey into his cage," she boldly commented, probably exaggerating a bit too much, "Ich bin gekommen, um nach ihm zu sehen, just in case he causes any trouble."

We both watched as the prosecutor walked up to the attorney, twirling her wheat gold braided ponytail as she muttered something in German. Daiko looked annoyed, given his very disgruntled if not disappointed look on his face. It seemed he was getting lectured again on something that he didn't even know he was in trouble for or something.

"Can you three just leave?" Daiko tiredly rubbed the temples of his head, "I want to sleep like any normal person would at this hour!"

"Haha! If you say so, I, the Silver Dragon Prosecutor, will relinquish power tonight," she declared once more, blinking a lot as her heterochromatic eyes shone in the faded light emanating from the tent, "But I will yield no more, once tomorrow arrives."

"GET OUT!" Daiko screamed, pushing all three of us out of his tent frantically, "I WANT TO FUCKING SLEEP!"

As we were forcefully escorted out of his tent, my sister tripped and fell on her face as I helped her back up to her feet. Galiana seemed unphased by his actions as she dusted off her clothing and started speaking more angry German, which was hard to make out since I didn't speak the language. She had a very thick accent and it was very apparent given the very stern tone in her voice and almost strong dialect.

"Er glaubt, dass er mich so leicht loswerden kann," she muttered under her breath irritatedly, "I'll show him."

"You okay sis?" I asked, checking on her condition, "You're not hurt anywhere?"

"N-No..thanks Kichi…" she mumbled, brushing off some dirt from her clothing, "I-Is Galiana a-alright?"

"Not sure in all honesty," I turned to face the prosecutor as she walked back and forth, feeling a bit offended by Daiko's insistence on us leaving so abruptly, even though she was the one who recklessly entered his tent unannounced and rudely started lambasting him in front of his guests, "Let's just be careful with our words."

"A-Alright…" she nodded in agreement.

"Hey Gal, how are you?" I asked, hoping she'd respond, "Do you want to talk?"

"Kukuku~ You needn't concern yourself with my affairs pertaining to that jester," she smirked, her cape flowing behind her as she grandly monologues to us, "I'm more solicitous of you two and the others, how are you both fairing in this desolate wasteland of childhood pleasure?"

"I mean...I guess we're okay," I answered, a bit unsure of what she meant, "We were just taking a look around to see what you all were doing and how you're adjusting is all."

"Y-Yeah…" Cherika hid behind me, a bit nervous around Galiana's intense presence.

"I see, interesting~" she twirled her hair braid casually, "How about you two accompany the silver dragon prosecutor to her humble lodgings, would that suffice?"

"I guess so?" I answered her with a confused tone, "You want us to see your tent?"

"But of course!" she boldly shouted, "If you are venturing to meet the others, then it's only fair that you gaze upon the greatness of my temporary residence! Kukuku~"

"U-Umm...what do you m-mean, Galiana?" Cherika asked, a bit anxious and frightened of the prosecutor's forceful tone.

"Follow me, twins of fortune," she boisterously spoke, swooshing her body around as her cape followed close behind her, blowing some desert dust into our faces.

"Bleh!" I spat out some rocks from my mouth and wiped my face, "Do you want to come along, sis?"

Cherika dusted off some dust from her sweater coat and brushed back some messy strands of her hair, a bit annoyed that Galiana left us hanging like that.

"I-I suppose….it'd b-be rude to k-keep her waiting e-either way…" she mumbled, wiping some more dust from her red top.

I sighed deeply, blowing some dust out of my nose as I nodded my head and conceded to Galiana's request. We both followed the prosecutor to her tent, watching as she was already ahead of us, waiting by what seemed to be her tent. Galiana stood proudly, her hands on her hips next to a tent that was a rich bright purple and brownish hazel striped pattern.

"Du bist spät," she spoke in German, "No time for dawdling, come on in you two!"

She headed inside of the tent, a bit impatiently at that, considering we were only behind her for a few seconds. I guess I can kind of see why Daiko doesn't really see eye to eye with her, she's extremely intense to be around and it seems she's always on edge or something from her unusually jittery stance.

"Let's head on in sis," I sweat dropped, sighing deeply, "Time to brave the dragon's den."

"Y-Yeah…" Cherika nervously mumbled, following close behind me as we entered the prosecutor's tent.

 **GALIANA'S TENT**

Cautiously, we followed the prosecutor inside of her tent, expecting it to look like some weird post modern medieval setup, from how eccentric she acted. I think my initial guess was close if not a bit far from the mark from what I imagined.

Her room had decal plastered with similar decal to that of Daiko's tent, with a silver justice scale, lady justice with a blindfold covering her eyes and a dagger in her hand, a crest with the same insignia as the one on Galiana's cape with very intricate details that made the tent look more royal-like.

There was a very lush-looking bed with silk covers as well as a carpenter's crafted headboard with a soft purple quilted blanket and two blue pillows with black swirl accents on the edges. In the middle back of the room, I spotted a mahogany wooden desk with a bunch of manilla files and stacks of paperwork stacked up high and neatly organized into three separate piles with a fancy ink quill pen resting in the middle of the desk. There was a fuzzy foreign made wide carpet on the padded floors with a picture of a silver and dark royal purple background with two figures in the center: one is a long maroon colored dragon holding a harp in one claw and a sword in the other and the other figure is a blue colored tiger with a flaming torch in its' mouth, with both great beasts being linked together by a chain tightly around both of their necks.

There was a small wooden bookcase next to the desk in question, with a few books and several case files lined up on the walls, with a few mystery and fantasy titles that seemed familiar to me but couldn't pronounce the names of. A beautifully crafted wooden dresser in the far left corner of her tent with intricate patterns etched into the wood, filled with her clothes. Near the foot of her bed, there was an area put out for what looked to be animal or maybe her pet, with food, water, and bathroom necessities laid out messily for it. There appeared to be a mini staircase of sorts that looked too tiny for a human but big enough for a small animal to travel up and down on, that was positioned near the prosecutor's bed so the animal could nuzzle up to her and sleep with her I guess. Next to the animal supplies, there was a small brown box, possibly filled with the toys used to play with her pet. Lastly there was a brown nightstand with a purple reading lamp in on top that was left turned off.

"Wow...what a magnificent room!" I said, amazed by what I saw.

"I expect nothing less, for the Warrior of Truth!" she boldly claimed, smiling proudly, "These chambers are fitting for myself and my companion, Serpent!"

"S-Serpent?" Cherika asked curiously, "W-Who's that?"

"My faithful companion and loyal friend!" she loudly declared, "He's been with me through thick and thin, he's always there for me, even when fighting tough courtroom battles!"

When she said the name Serpent, I almost choked on my saliva. I didn't know she brought a pet with her, let alone a pet reptile. I mean it's common for people to have reptiles as pets, but I was a little scared of what it could be. Was it a giant snake? Some man eating lizard? Or something more ferocious?

"Serpent, come on out!" Galiana called out, clapping her gloved hands together and bending down to the floor, "Where have you gone you slippery rascal?"

"K-Kichi...is it a-a s-snake?" Cherika worriedly trembled, sticking close behind me as she shook like a leaf falling off of a tree branch.

"I don't know, s-sis," I responded, equally as nervous as she was, taking in a large gulp, "Let's hope it's o-one of those harmless s-snakes...that doesn't constricts its body...or swallow animals whole."

Galiana continued looking for her pet as my sister and I were nervous yet curious as to who she was talking about, a small cuddly animal or a vicious deadly reptile, it was anyone's guess.

"Da bist du ja!" the prosecutor shouted, her boisterous tone jolted my sister and I out of our frightened daze, "Where have you been lurking?"

We followed her eyes downwards as we came face to face with what looked to be a small furry animal. It was a small rabbit that had dominantly black soft-looking fur with a white grey underside and black dooey eyes with a twinkle in them, as well as a dark blue scarf wrapped around it's fuzzy neck with a similar crest to the one on Galiana's cape. My sister and I breathed a sigh of relief as the fuzzy little rabbit hopped around and approached the prosecutor as she played with the rabbit, brushing back its fur carefully before addressing the both of us.

"This is my loyal companion! Serpent! King of Dreams and Hunter of the Night!" she loudly announced, placing the rabbit on her shoulder and fed it a few brown rabbit pellets as it nibbled on them almost wolfishly.

"O-Oh...Serpent is a-a rabbit?" Cherika asked, a bit surprised as well, "T-That was u-unexpected…"

"Kukuku~ Isn't he just astounding!" Galiana petted the rabbit happily, "Not anyone can tame him, it takes a great deal of effort to get on his good side!"

"R-Really?" I remarked, a bit seriously, "D-Do you think we could pet him?"

"Of course, but be careful," she warned, holding the rabbit in her gloved hands, "He needs to warm up to you first before you can do that."

"M-May I?" Cherika asked, appearing at my side and looking at the bunny with a curious yet excited gaze, "I've always w-wanted to p-pet a b-bunny…"

Galiana nodded her head, holding Serpent out to my sister as she approached the rabbit slowly, shakily extending her hand out to pet it as he sniffed her hand. The rabbit sniffed my sister's hand as if it were assessing her threat level to see if she was friendly or not. It was a very wholesome scene if anything.

"H-He's so cu- ah!" Cherika winced in pain, retracting her hand back to her person, "H-He b-bit me!?"

I hastily went over to my sister as I took a look at her left index finger. I noticed the small bite mark on the front of her finger as a tiny drop of blood spilled from her finger, falling onto the padded floor.

"Hah, typical Serpent," Galiana held her bunny, bent down and rested him on the ground as he hopped over to his play area, "Not just anyone can pet him so effortlessly, didn't I tell you already?"

Despite her pet biting my sister, Galiana still kept a haughty, if not condescending attitude. She didn't seem all that phased that my sister was hurt by her pet, that was until she noticed the blood dripping onto the floor and coming from my sister's finger.

"I-I'm fine K-Kichi…" Cherika cringed in pain, "I-I was n-never really good with a-animals…"

"Are you alright?" Galiana asked worriedly for a brief second, "I was not aware that Serpent's bite was that deadly."

"No, we're fine, good night Galiana!" I told her firmly, escorting my sister out of the prosecutor's tent frantically.

"O-Oh...na dann...we shall meet again you two," she gave us a hearty goodbye, quickly shifting from worry to her usual persona, "Gute Nacht!"

After Galiana bid us a very formal and professional goodnight, my sister and I felt weirdly uncomfortable yet already adjusted to her very verbose and eccentric tendencies.

"You alright sis?" I asked her, observing her bitten finger, "It's not infected?"

"N-No Kichi…." she shook her head profusely, "I-It's only a small b-bite...s-stop f-fussing...y-you're doing it a-again.."

"A-Ah...y-you're right...sorry," I apologized back, rubbing the back of my head in embarrassment, "I g-guess I got ahead of myself once again."

"I-It's okay…" she giggled at my apologetic behavior, "M-Maybe I'll get r-rabbit related s-superpowers or s-something, hehe…"

"Let's hope not," I chuckled at her lame teasing joke, "I don't need you bouncing all over the place like Banri and getting hurt you hear, heh."

My sister and I had a good little laugh despite her having been sort of attacked by Galiana's pet, but I guess it wasn't intentional, so I'm just overthinking it again. Maybe it's because my sister and I have met so many colorful characters in this abandoned amusement park that everyone's odd quirks felt commonplace in a place like this, so we weren't as phased by what had happened earlier.

"Galiana was v-very interesting…" Cherika remarked, feeling as if she had just come out of a business meeting, "S-She's not t-that bad."

"I guess," I pondered on the idea, "Maybe her bombastic prosecutor persona is some sort of coping mechanism? Maybe she has her pet here because of that or something?"

"P-Probably," she thought, twirling a messy strand of hair, "I-It's not really o-our business…"

"That's also true," I thought over it, walking casually along, "Oh well, when we met her next time, she can elaborate more, who knows."

We walked around the tent grounds some more, spotting a few more people visiting the other tents as well. We spotted Ayano venturing inside of Nashi's tent, I guess she too was allured by the mysterious and mystical aura that emanated from the soothsayer's tent. The eSports Pro seemed skeptical of the tent's rather unassuming nature, but she shrugged it off and went inside either way.

"Hey K-Kichi..d-do you h-hear humming?" Cherika turned her head around, her ears perking up.

"I hear it to, sis," I listened closely, picking up on the particular tune, "Is someone singing a song?"

"M-Maybe…." she wondered seriously, "Do you w-want to c-c-check it out?"

"Might as well," I sighed deeply, crossing my fingers that we weren't coming across something else outlandish.

We searched around the area for a few minutes, hoping to find where the humming noise originated from and came across another tent. I looked up and noticed that it was colored in a very obnoxious shade of pink and yellow stripes. The thing that made the tent stand out more was the fact that the pink and yellow colors glittered and shone, almost fabulously if anything like a pretty sequined dress or disco ball.

"La la la~" the humming tune ceased as a person's voice practiced their basic music notes, "Mhmhm~ Me me me me me~"

"I-I wonder who's s-singing inside of t-this tent?" Cherika mumbled to me, closely behind.

"Not sure…" I responded unsure of who it was, noticing a small crack in the entrance to the tent, "Want to take a quick peek?"

"M-Maybe we s-shouldn't, K-Kichi…" Cherika nervously shook her head, "R-Remember w-what happened l-last time?"

As much as she was right about voyeuristically checking out someone else's tent without their permission, the intense curiosity poked and prodded me, almost like a bored child tired of playing with their toys.

"Couldn't hurt to just take a quick glance," I smirked, letting my curiosity get the better of me, "Wait here sis."

"K-Kichi….please d-don't," she tried pulling me back, as she almost tripped on her footing.

Disregarding her cautious remarks, I brazenly took a small peek inside of the glittery tent and came face to face with another pair of eyes meeting mine, a very bright green pair to be exact.

"Found you snooping, cutie~" the voice happily chimed out, "Hoping to get a sneak peek at the good stuff, eh~"

I backed away in fright, tripping and landing on my butt, as the voice greeted me suddenly. It seemed we came across someone else's tent and I got caught like some peeping tom at the local swimming pool. I rubbed my backside, turning to face the person who had surprised greeted me.

"I know a lot of girls want to look at me," the male voice spoke, almost in a sultry tone, "But to have this kind of effect on even cute boys such as you, Kichi darling, it's almost titillating~"

Out from the gaudy tent appeared a short male figure, wearing the most flamboyant outfit I've ever seen. The figure hugged their pink jacket to their skin in a very suggestive manner, fiddled with the feather clips in his hair and giggled playfully like a mischievous elf.

"H-Hibiki!?" my sister and I said in unison, both of us somewhat shocked as to who emerged from the tent, "Wha?"

"Well duh, who else did you expect? Santa Claus?" Hibiki pouted childishly, "If I knew I was having guests over, I'd have changed into something a little less revealing~"

So it seemed we stumbled upon his tent out of curiosity, or more so, my unwavering knack for getting into trouble when I wanted to stay as far away from it as possible. The jpop idol walked out of his tent, observing his neatly trimmed fingernails and filing them as they shimmered a bright neon gel rainbow polish. He looked at my sister and I and smiled happily, giving off a small chuckle.

"Naughty naughty twins~" he teasingly remarked, "I didn't know you two were into spying on others."

"W-W-Wait!?" I got up from my fallen state, waving my hands out in front of me and blushing intensely, "I didn't know anyone w-was in t-there, I'm so s-sorry!"

"I t-told you, K-Kichi...y-you never listen t-to me," Cherika sighed, rubbing her temples in frustration.

"Oh what's the all the fuss about, no harm no foul, kiddos~" he smiled from ear to ear, chuckling out of amusement, "However just be glad it was me and not one of the girls, otherwise you'd be in for a world of hurt and humiliation~"

"O-Oh...I um...s-sorry about that, Hibiki," I apologized to him profusely, bending my head over, "I d-didn't mean to p-pry!"

"K-Kichi, you're e-embarrassing y-yourself," Cherika rubbed my shoulders, feeling a bit of pity for me, "G-Get up.."

"How many times do I have to say, it's alright," the jpop idol tugged at his dog choker necklace, some blush forming on his face, "Just don't do something as lecherous as that again, unless you wanted to get branded a pervert, then be my guest."

"I uh...A-Alright…" I tilted my head down dejectedly, "I'm sorry…"

"Anyways! What brings you two lovely honeys to my cozy lodgings?" he clapped his hands together, changing gears at the drop of a hat, "If it's not some weird booty call, then what are you doing here so late?"

"W-We j-just wanted to check u-up on you g-guys," Cherika interjected for me, as I was still trying to live down that embarrassing mistake, "T-To make s-sure you all w-were doing o-okay."

"Aww, how precious!" Hibiki giggled mischievously, "I'm doing well, despite the peculiar circumstances we seem to be in."

"T-That's good to h-hear…" Cherika nodded her head, "W-What were you d-doing?"

"Oh nothing particular, just getting undressed and getting ready to go to bed," he put his finger to his chin, "Do you two want to take a quick look at what's in my tent?"

After snapping out of the initial shock of the encounter, I brushed around my messy blonde hair and blinked rapidly, trying to wake myself up. It seemed he wanted to invite us in, I just hope it didn't get freakier than what just happened.

"Come in, follow me~" he chirped ecstatically, skipping inside of his tent, as my sister and I looked at each other.

"Let's just get this over with," I sweatdropped, walking nervously inside of the tent.

"A-Agreed…." Cherika nodded anxiously as well, as she followed me inside of the idol's tent.

 **HIBIKI'S TENT**

We followed the jpop idol into his tent, expecting something crazy to happen, but instead came face to face with what was inside of his tent. To say the room was all flashing lights and glitter was about as correct as I expected, maybe not as much as I was expecting however.

Hibiki's tent had decals of black microphones with colorful music notes and random Jpop lyrics written in fancy rainbow letters plastered everywhere. There was also a bunch of colorful emojis of the happy, sad, angry, goofy, love, devil, angel and many more yellow emojis printed everywhere surrounded by a bunch of fanmail and glittery handwritten notes probably from adoring fans or something. He must have a lot of fangirls, given the amount of mail he's received.

In the right corner of his tent, I spotted a large black box that most singers and musicians use when they are recording their new music, with a bunch of audio and technical circuits with a lot of buttons and dials I wasn't familiar with, probably used to edit and autotune his voice. Inside of the booth was a wooden stool with a black stand that had a bunch of lyrical notes printed on white pieces of paper resting neatly on the stand. Next to the recording booth, I spotted a little area sequestered off from one portion of the tent where there was a white disco like tile floor with a bright disco ball on top that sparkled up the entire tent, making it look like a giant dancefloor with a screen monitor on one end of the tent that displayed a dancing tutorial of sorts with a bunch of hip hop and pop idols dressed in fancy and colorful workout attire dancing. I guess Hibiki used this as inspiration when he practiced his dancing, no wonder he was able to beat Ayano at Rave Rave Domination.

In another part of his tent, there was a vanity much like the one Tsukae has, but Hibiki's had multicolored bright stars glowing and was glittering in gold while silver sparkles was plastered on the sides of the mirror, with a bunch of fluorescent bulbs shining brightly. On top of the vanity, I spotted some makeup products, but from very high end brands such as L'Ariol, Chonal, Alice K, and other brands that I wasn't familiar with. The vanity sported a few pictures of Hibiki posing with a lot of teenage girls, probably part of his fanbase, and a bunch of handwritten notes with encouraging messages written in fancy black letters stuck next to the mirror, kind of like a reminder of all the lives he's changed and inspired as an idol. The vanity was next to his bed, which was a very simple queen sized bed with a hardwood frame and a fluffy mattress but the covers were a bright pink with yellow spots dotted on the pattern and a bunch of silk white pillows with a few emoji pillows lined next to the regular pillows.

"Are you starstruck yet, cuties?" Hibiki asked, watching us gaze listlessly at his very incandescent and eye catching tent, "Impressed by what you see?"

"I-It's a bit p-poppy," Cherika meekly said, unsure of what word to use to describe the jpop idols' tent, "V-Very c-colorful, H-Hibiki."

"Why thank you, Cherry sweetie~" he giggled playfully, twisting the rings on his fingers, "You're such a peach."

"O-Oh...t-thanks I g-guess," she blushed timidly, a bit taken aback by his flirtatious comment.

"You seem to have a lot of things set up here, Hibiki," I remarked, baffled by the insane amount of sparkles littered throughout, "You must have it tough as an idol, always dancing and singing all the time."

"I suppose you could say that, Kichi," he mused, puffing up his cheeks in a very sheepish manner, "But I'm done with that life, too much stress and high expectations to be perfect, plus incessant nagging from fans and all that jazz~ I like to look towards the future."

His words felt honest, but from the nervous way he was wriggling around much like Shion, he was probably too uncomfortable discussing his past, especially to people he just met. I guess that's one of the reasons he attended this program, so I can't really judge him for wanting a normal, fame-free life. Idol or not, he was just another regular person like us, except he had status and fame compared to my sister and I, who were complete nobodies in the eyes of the world.

"D-Did you like p-performing as an idol?" Cherika asked him, fidgeting with her coat sleeve, "F-Forgive me for asking."

Hibiki seemed a bit surprised by her random question, but kept up his confident teasing persona as he twirled around some auburn strands of his hair.

"I used to," he said briefly, before taking a deep sigh, "But I don't want to talk about it now, maybe some other time, sweetie."

"Fair enough," I responded, "Well, we'll leave you alone now, good night Hibiki."

"N-Night H-Hibiki…" Cherika meekly waved to the jpop idol.

"Toodle loo, you two~" he blew us an air kiss, "Feel free to drop by anytime for another sneak peek if you're interested."

We exited his tent, as he went over to his recording booth and organized his notes and song sheets, our eyes adjusting to the lack of brightness as mine started shaking a bit from all the hyper realistic tones and shades splashed everywhere.

"Y-You okay, Kichi?" Cherika asked, noticing me rubbing my baggy eyes.

"Yeah, Hibiki's tent just gave me a bit of a headache," I sighed out of exhaustion, "It's nothing too major, I'm just feeling a bit sleepy is all."

"A-Alright...it is g-getting darker…" Cherika remarked, looking up at the sky as I did a double take at my surroundings.

The evening sky had fully turned to night, the once warm pinks and zesty oranges had transitioned into cool luscious dark blues, radiant purples and there was a general dark tone to the chilling late night breeze. A shiver spider walked down my back as I rubbed my shoulders together, realizing that the desert tends to get cold at the end of each day.

"Maybe we should go to bed," I suggested, rubbing my shoulders, "It is getting late and we have a long few months ahead of us."

"Y-Yeah…" she nodded her head tiredly, wiping her eyes with her left coat sleeve.

My sister and I turned around and started walking back to our unusually designed tent, before something flew past us almost like a speeding bullet.

"Woah!" I shouted almost loudly, instinctively putting my hand in front of Cherika to protect her from what it was that almost hit us, "Crap..that was close.."

"K-Kichi!?" she asked, worriedly holding her chest, her eyes almost bulged out of her sockets, "W-What was that?!"

"I-I don't know," I nervously sweated, my body shaking from that initial fright.

I turned my head to the right and saw what looked to be a few pieces of hardwood that have been sawed or broken in half, with the ends splintered into jagged, sharpened edges. It seemed that whoever tossed that at us came from the tent that was on our left.

"I-Is this a b-bed frame?" Cherika asked, bending over to look at the decimated bed parts, "W-Why is is b-broken like t-this?"

But before I could respond, I spotted another flying object heading her way as I grabbed her arm out of reflex and yanked her to the side as quickly as possible. I inspected what was hurled our way and it was a few more pieces of wood as well as a few black styrofoam mats from the padded floors in each tent.

"W-What is g-going on K-Kichi?" Cherika quivered, covering her head out of fear something might hit her again.

"I'm not sure, sis," I started sweating even more, "But it's coming from over there in that tent."

We both looked opposite to the decimated wreckage and came face to face with a tent that was patterned a dark brown and dark forest green stripe color design. I noticed that there were a few pillows scattered on the dusty ground as they were soiled with brown and black dirt, a completely broken bookshelf as well as a few pieces of metal equipment smashed and left in many sharp and minute silver pieces on the floor.

"I wonder w-who's t-tent that is?" Cherika wondered, hugging her person tightly.

"Whoever it is, they're not one for tidiness, that's for sure," I sighed anxiously, trying my best to avoid anymore projectile weapons being tossed our way, "Let's check it out."

My sister kept behind me as I slowly treaded towards the tent in question, making sure there wasn't anything else that was going to randomly assault us as we entered inside. We made it to the tent's flap entrance as two pillows flew into our faces and slapped us softly as they slid down our faces.

"Ow…" Cherika rubbed her cheek, "That w-was v-very b-bad timing on o-our part…"

"It was a rude awakening if anything," I remarked, rubbing my red cheek in irritation, "Let's get this over with."

As we entered the tent, my shoe felt the warm dusty desert ground as I noticed that the entire floor was ripped apart with some of the black padding, used in the other tents as flooring, removed completely as brown pebbles, bits of concrete and dusty sand scattered the floor like a dirty sand pit of sorts. I looked down at my feet and got some brown mud stuck to the bottom as I scraped it against the rocky earth, as I took in the tent's interior design.

The walls inside of the tent were decaled with brown trees with green leaves and branches, multicolored flowers of every species decorated around the trees and a bunch of cute animal faces with doey black eyes and white soles gave the room a very childlike vibe; almost to that you'd see in a zoo.

Unlike the other tents, this tent had no furniture or household appliance of any kind, almost as if it was alien to the nature of how this tent was themed. I could tell whoever had this tent, hated anything man-made judging from the careless wreckage scattered about outside of it. Instead of furniture, the tent looked like part of a huge forest, almost like a mini version of one.

What took me and my sister by surprise was the giant tree place in the middle of the room, we almost did a double take at how tall and stout it was. It grew in the center of the tent with luscious dark brown bark that looked aged and partly decayed, the pointed branches spiked in all directions randomly and even poked holes in the sides of the tent's roof and exposed small portions of moonlight peering through the ripped seams. The tree itself had growing leaves of many hues and shades, from minty green, chocolate brown and even auburn red as it gave it a naturalistic tone. There were a few flower bushes scattered around the room with different wild plants growing tall as the roof of the tent as some leaves brushed against the ends and were intertwined with each other like thin green vines.

To finish off the very earthy like nature of the tent, I spotted little treetop bridges tied by brown rope connected between each branch, similarly to the ones you'd see indigenous tribes use when trying to avoid predators on the ground. I spotted a little brown and light blue striped sleeping bag hanging from one end of the one of the branches that looked as if something used that like a resting place and there were two black tire swings hung with white rope hanging on either ends of the trees; one used for leisure and the other for climbing up the tree like a pulley system.

"T-This room looks l-like t-the w-woods…" Cherika stood in awe at the simplicity of the tent, "I-It even has t-that w-weird d-dung smell like m-manure…"

"True...it smells kind of funky," I pinched my nose to obscure the smell, "Someone must really like the outdoors or camping."

"Ooooh guests!" squealed a female voice coming from above, "How fortuitous of you two to stop by! So very fortunate indeed!"

Shocked by the sudden voice, we looked up towards the tree and saw a small figure emerge from the little sleeping bag hanging from the ends of the tree branch. Their messy black pigtailed hair looked even more unkempt than usual and those pastel pink eyes were bright like two round cotton candy balls.

"Is that you Shiho?" I inquired, unsure of who it was, "What are you doing up there?"

"Why yes yes!" she chirped enthusiastically, hanging from one of the tree branches like a monkey, "Welcome to my tent, travellers!"

 **SHIHO'S TENT**

I watched the survivalist jump effortlessly from one branch to the other, doing a bunch of impossible flips and landing on one of the tire swings as she came down to greet us. It was an almost amazing feet, for someone of her size and shape, she was like a mini acrobat.

"W-Wow that was i-impressive…" Cherika's mouth stood agape as she saw the small girl do those flips.

"It's simple survival, silly~" she pointed her finger a bit too closely to us, "If you can't do simple stuff like climb trees, you might as well be bear meat, hehehe~"

"I-I see…" I sweated at her strangely casual remark, "S-So why'd you get rid of all the furniture in your room, Shiho?"

"Why would I need man-made items when I have the vast endless trees and forests at my disposal," she twirled around, adjusting her rose pink halter top, "You know if you take out all those frivolous pesky pieces of technology from your life, you improve ten times more as a person!"

"R-Really?" Cherika seemed unsure about the survivalist's response, "B-But what about p-proper h-hygiene?"

"Silly little Cherry~" she giggled playfully, "Kami provides for all those purposes, bathing in the river and wiping your butt with leaves is so much easier and more convenient! So very very useful!"

My sister and I were both confused by the survivalist's almost unnaturally upbeat attitude towards living like this. I guess that comes with the territory of living in the wild for an indefinite amount of time.

"So you live like a nomad is what you're saying?" I asked her, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes yes, very good Kichi!" she smiled from ear to ear, "You never know what good could come from living with such little worry in your mind! No phones, no TV, no video games, you two should try it some time!"

Shiho started hopping in place, almost like an impatient child waiting for Christmas to come. She came a little too close for comfort as she approached the both of us with a gleam in her eyes, probably awaiting a response about her offer to live a technology free and primitive lifestyle.

"Thanks, but I prefer hot running water and having cool A/C," I told her in a very delicate manner, hoping to not offend her, "I don't think I'm properly trained to live like that, sorry Shiho."

"M-Me too...I k-kind of like h-having clean clothes a-and modern tools…" Cherika meekly responded.

"I see I see," Shiho analyzed the both of us from top to bottom, "Well then, if you two change your minds later, the kami is always willing to extend a hand to more wandering souls!"

"O-Okay…" I responded with doubt in my voice.

"T-Thank you f-for saving my l-life earlier, Shiho…." Cherika muttered out as clearly as she could.

"You're most welcome! Hehehe~" the survivalist laughed almost proudly, "You might be unlucky in the eyes of the world, but the kami smiled upon you in that moment, thank him, not me."

"I-I will…" Cherika scratched at her injured arm nervously.

"Before you two go, I have a present for you both!" she happily announced, climbing the giant tree and maneuvering the thin branches and thickets of leaves. She held two small brown straw bags in her hands, jumping down from the tree without as much as a wince of pain and handed them to us.

"What are these?" I eyed the small bags, noticing the brown rope tied around the tops, "Is it dangerous or poisonous?"

"No no! I picked these myself, they are one hundred percent organic!" she told us with an eager smile on her face, "I even taste tested them myself, if you don't believe me!"

I untied the bag and saw what was inside. It was a bunch of freshly washed blueberries, all glowing a bluish purple color and looking ripe.

"T-Thanks Shiho…." I nodded at her cute little gesture, still unsure about the offering and taking one and tasting it, "Mmm! These are so juicy!"

Cherika picked up one of the blueberries, observed it carefully, squished it as a bit of juice dripped to the floor as she put it in her mouth.

"S-So s-sweet!" she squealed with delight, "W-Where'd you get these, S-Shiho?"

"From the nearby forest close to the edge of the carnival!" she clapped both hands together, "Monojoker was kind enough to let me wander around, as long as I didn't call for help or wander too far from his line of sight."

The idea that she was allowed to leave, but not allowed to call for assistance, let alone leave the compound was a bit worrying, if not indicative of the bear's omnipresence. As much as I still had my suspicions, it felt a little off to me that that small bear was watching us under a microscope like a bunch of test subjects. It was freaky if anything and kind of was a little red flag if anything, but I didn't really think much of it.

"Well we appreciate your gift, Shiho," I thanked the survivalist, "We're going to turn in for the night."

"G-Good night, Shiho…" Cherika waved to the short girl..

"Goodnight you two, may the kami wish good dreams upon you both!" she hugged her cardigan and jumped back up the tree and swung from branch to branch, landing inside of her sleeping bag like a cat with both feet as my sister and I left her tent.

"These blueberries are tasty," I remarked, popping another into my mouth, "I didn't know they were in season."

"M-Me either, K-Kichi…" Cherika smiled meekly, "T-That was rather n-nice of her, even t-though she barely knows us."

That is true, despite just meeting these people, most of them are unusually friendly than I presumed. We're all here for the same thing, but I didn't expect most of them to be this friendly, bar a few cases like Shannon, Itsuki and Chihaya. I guess it's too early for me to judge people's qualities. It's like my sister said, we only just met these people, so who knows what their true colors are like.

"Maybe I should make these into a pie for later," I mused, wondering what to do with the blueberries, "I think the others mi- oof!"

Before I could finish my sentence, I seemed to have bumped into something else. I fell straight back onto my butt as I dropped the bag of blueberries onto the dirty ground, as some spilled on the floor.

"K-Kichi!?" Cherika's eyes widened, hurrying over to my side, "A-Are you a-alright?"

"Y-Yeah...thanks sis," I rubbed my lower back, "I guess I wasn't looking where I was going…"

"Hmph…" grunted a deep male voice, "You better watch where ya going, kid."

I looked to who was talking to us and almost squinted as the dim evening light made it hard for me to see who it was that I accidentally bumped into. However from their distinct frame and how hard I was pushed back, I kind of knew it had to be that person. The figure's dominant black clothing made them almost invisible in this night setting and their intimidating glare and imposing muscular frame sent a shiver down my spine.

"O-Oh umm...N-Norio…I uh…" I stammered to respond, watching the vigilante in front of me unmoved and unphased, "I-I didn't see you t-there, m-my bad…."

Norio didn't respond to my feeble attempt at an apology, instead he stood firm like a statue and crossed his arms, looking at my sister and staring at us with his bright golden stern eyes almost disapprovingly like a parent would after their child broke something.

"W-We didn't m-mean to inconvenience y-you…" Cherika timidly spoke, shaking in place as she too was intimidated by his imposing stance, "W-We were just t-taking a t-tour of the t-tents…"

"Is that so?" the vigilante raised an eyebrow underneath his shady black hoodie, "Well, you're lucky that you're not a criminal or trying to attack me, otherwise I wouldn't go easy on either of you."

From how stern and cold he spoke, it was almost as if we committed a punishable crime with how low his tone went and how grave he sounded. I knew that was the kind of persona he was displaying as a vigilante, but I guess he's not used to simple, polite conversation if he's this stoic and pseudo-threatening sounding all the time. I guess he's more of a less talk, more punching sort of guy.

"I-I guess s-so...t-thank goodness," I mumbled out nervously, as a bead of sweat trickled down the side of my forehead.

"W-What are you doing o-out so late, N-Norio?" Cherika asked the dark hooded vigilante.

"I could ask the same of you two," he spoke firmly, "But if you must know, I'm just doing my own patrol of the area, making sure no intruder enters under my watch."

"I see...how thoughtful of you," I commented, trying my best to word my remarks carefully, "How are you adjusting-"

"I don't have time for small talk," he cut me off, putting his hand up to my face, "Did you need something from me or are you just going to get in my way?"

"N-No..not really," I mumbled out anxiously, "We just wanted to know what your t-tent looks like, since we've been visiting the others and asking how they are doing."

The vigilante furrowed his brow at my claim, as Cherika clung to my shoulders behind me, equally afraid of what Norio might do to us if we misspoke. The pressure from just talking with him was very palpable, almost as if we were getting interrogated by the police or something.

"Fine, just make it quick," he responded stoically, "My tent is the black and grey striped one that's only a few tents down, don't go snooping or else."

With that the vigilante brushed past us nonchalantly, almost as if we were pebbles in his path. While he may look intimidating, he's at least able to have a decent conversation with us, even if he looked like he wanted to leave as quickly as possible due to us impeding his patrol.

"L-Let's go K-Kichi…" Cherika tugged at my shoulder nervously.

"Y-Yeah…" I took a deep gulp, sucking in my breath and sauntering by at a brisk pace.

My sister and I walked to where Norio had directed us to go and we came to the aforementioned tent he had described to us. It was in the exact spot he mentioned with the same color pattern of jet black and dull grey. A bit hesitant to approach his tent, my sister and I decided we would be better taking a quick peek and not actually going inside to see what was in there. I turned the tent flap ajar and my sister and I took a quick glance at what was inside of the vigilante's tent.

 **NORIO'S TENT**

I didn't know what to expect inside of Norio's tent, was it going to have this anti hero esque look to it like the ones you'd see in comic books or was there a more gritty and darker undertone to the style of his tent? I can fairly say that my reaction was mixed to say the least.

On the walls of his tent were pictures of cracked and broken bones with a few skulls staring at us with black soulless eyes, a wolf like black outline with a very intricate pattern that swirled around the wolf's face with its bare white fangs dripping blood, a few pictures of loaded guns shooting metal bullets and spewing smoke from the gun barrels and, to complete the very dark and edgy ensemble, there were a few spots of dark black spray paint with white jagged lettering reading 'The Man Of Judgement.'

His tent was darker than outside and it was nighttime, which said a lot about how somber and pitch it was inside of the vigilante's tent. I spotted a military fashioned bed with nothing but a metal frame, a white mattress and a few black pillows with a thin grey blanket neatly folded into the covers of the bed. There was a giant brown wolf shaped carpet on the padded black floors with a wolf staring at us with blood red eyes; it was freaky and almost frightening upon first sight.

I spotted a bookshelf filled with a bunch of books with titles I couldn't make out from afar, a mini training area sectioned off in the right corner of his room with exercise equipment that included a dumbbell rack, a bench press, a black punching bag and a bunch of other training gear that I wasn't familiar with. Hanging from the ceiling on the opposite end of the tent was a motorcycle hanging on thin invisible wires; the motorcycle in question was colored solid black and gleamed to a shine, silver steel motorm frame and rubber handle grips. It was truly a sight to behold. A desk next to his bed had a bunch of black and white pictures littered on the desk of people that I didn't recognize with a red ink pen off to the side and a bunch of other ink pens resting inside of a cubby. To finish off the anti-hero aesthetic, there was a bunch of white torn flags with different symbols of various gangs throughout Japan that I remembered from watching the local news.

"N-Norio's room is k-kind of scary…" Cherika noted, trembling at how dark the room was, "I-I wouldn't w-want to g-get on his b-bad side…"

"Me too sis," I remarked anxiously, closing the flap of his tent entrance, "Let's go before he starts to get suspicious."

Cherika nodded her head as we left the vigilante's tent at a rather frantic pace. The more and more we uncover about the other Ultimates in this program, the little bit more information we get to know about their lives, even if the evidence is too miniscule to judge upon first inspection.

"It's getting l-late K-Kichi…" Cherika yawned loudly, covering her mouth with her hand, "C-Can we go to b-bed already?"

As much as I wanted to do some more reconnaissance, I was admittedly getting sleepier and more somnolent with each second we stayed up during the blistering cold of the harsh desert night. I wasn't sure if what we packed for clothing would be suited to this kind of weather, but we had to make due with what little resources we had at our disposal. Monojoker didn't seem too keen on giving us much to use, let alone any reason as to why we were in the desert of all places. I started getting more and more frustrated with each passing seconds that dragged on, it felt that everytime we learnt something new, we were left with even more questions than answers, it was one giant enigma wrapped in the guise of an abandoned carnival.

"Hey K-Kichi..do you s-smell fire?" Cherika commented, her nose twitching as she spoke, "It's c-close by...achoo!"

"I smell it too sis," I sniffed the air, catching a whiff of smoke as I began following the trail, "Stay behind me just in case, Cherry."

"A-Alright," she meekly agreed, trailing behind me carefully as I went to scope out the cause of the smoky scent.

I walked around the tent grounds aimlessly as the dimly lit lights in the abandoned carnival flickered on and off as a few lamp posts nearby shone a jittery white light along the pathway. A few shards of light bulb glass littered the floor as I treaded carefully, hoping not to slip on anything in the ever growing darkness of the night time.

"Holy muffins! Who knew bunching a bunch of firework sticks together would create this huge of a spark! AMAZING!" giggled a high-pitched female voice.

As the trail of grey smoke enveloped a small part of the carnival, so did a small flickering crackling noise and a white orange light appeared from the side of one of the tents. From the sound of it, someone was playing around with a bunch of mini fireworks and lighting them up all at once.

My sister and I turned a corner and came to meet a small figure laughing mischievously and a bright popping light blinding us as we approached the person. It was almost hard to make out who the person was, but from their small stature, petite frame and noticeable tangerine hair, there was only one person here who was fond of anything fire related.

"W-Who's there?" I asked inquisitively, keeping a safe distance between the figure and I, "What are you doing?"

"Oh ho! It's the killjoy from earlier," the figure sneered, "Here to ruin my fun again?"

I got a better image of the person as the lights started flickering more and more as my eyes adjusted to the lighting. The figure had bunched about twenty firework sticks together with black duct tape and they all looked like some weird homemade candle with how bright and luminescent it was.

"Hotaru?" I called out, seeing if my suspicions were correct, "What are you doing?"

"Haha! I'm making my own homemade firecracker!" she cackled mischievously, "This dusty old carnival is so boring and barren, I decided to spice things up a bit, if you know what I mean."

I watched the arsonist playfully joke about messing with a bunch of fireworks with an ecstatic look on her face as a bead of sweat rolled down the side of my head. First lighting up a flower field, now making a homemade explosive, isn't she here to get rid of her talent? What insane thought conjured up this idea?!

"I-Isn't that d-dangerous?" Cherika asked, squinting as her eyes were blinded by the flashing lights.

"Oh, but that's the fun part!" she commented cheerfully, holding the bunched-up fireworks in her red gloved hands and waving them around carelessly, "Isn't risking things what makes life so interesting and fun?"

"I don't think that's what they meant…" I worriedly remarked, keeping a good distance from the arsonist and her potentially deadly weapon, "What are you doing up so late?"

"Who are you, my dad?" she jeered, poking fun at me, "I'm bored, plain and simple, didn't you hear me the first time, green bean?"

"G-Green bean?" Cherika asked confusingly, "I-Is she t-talking about you, K-Kichi?"

"Of course I'm referring to your brother, strawberry or whatever your name was!" Hotaru casually responded, scratching her head when she saw my sister behind me.

"I-It's Cherika…" she responded meekly.

"Well whatever, I'm about to let go of this baby and let the fire show run wild!" she said, throwing the bunched up fireworks up towards the sky as she made a quick run for it.

"Oh crap, run Cherry!" I shouted, without hesitation in my voice.

My sister and I ran away from the dangerous explosive as we hid behind a nearby bench that was a few feet away from the site of the weapon. As the firecrackers sparked, I noticed Hotaru closeby, watching her fiery work of art glitter the dark night sky.

The genuine glee on her pale face was enough to send shivers spider walking down my spine, it was a bone-chilling expression that was plastered on the arsonist's face. Her eyes lit up with excitement as the fireworks were on their last end and were ready to blow, then her look changed as the sparks fizzled out from the sudden cold breeze extinguishing the sparkling disaster.

"Aww come on… No fair!" Hotaru grumpily pouted, heading over to the remains of her failed attempt at a fireworks show and kicking the black cinders on the floor, "What a cheap outcome, those fire sparklers need to be recalled."

I breathed a sigh of relief as my sister was nervously shaking in her shoes, covering her eyes out of fear a fire might start.

"I-Is it over?" Cherika mumbled, "T-There's no f-fire?"

"It's fine now, sis," I reassured her, patting her back as we emerged from our hiding spot, "Let's go."

As soon as I left the comfort of my bench hiding spot, I felt a small punch hit me in the gut, it wasn't a forceful one but felt almost like a hard tickle if anything.

"You two killjoys had to interfere and ruin my fun!" she grumbled grumpily, muttering words underneath her breath, "You just had to interrupt and destroy my fun, fire killers!"

"Excuse me, but I'm pretty sure what you were doing was a potential safety hazard that could have set the tents ablaze," I retorted, looking down at her as she scowled at me.

"That's the entire point, dumbass," she gritted her teeth in annoyance, clenching her fists tightly in anger, "I wanted to see the glorious beauty of the orange embers decorate this stuffy carnival and paint it colors of black and grey!"

Despite her weirdly articulate way of describing the basic understanding of arson, I felt like I was arguing with a child over a stolen piece of candy or something. Hotaru's childish response to almost burning down the entire carnival was almost disgusting to hear, if not a bit troubling to know that someone as volatile as her was going to be rehabilitated as a normal person, which I highly doubt would work. She doesn't need a new life, she needs lots of therapy.

"Maybe you should go to bed, Hotaru?" I suggested politely, remaining the mature and calm one in this silly argument, "You look like you need some sleep."

"You can't tell me what to do!" she stuck her tongue out at me, "I'll go to my tent on my own time, it just so happens that you two nincompoops have bored me to death, hmph!"

And just like, the arsonist stormed off to her tent, huffing and puffing angrily as she entered a nearby tent that was patterned a bright orange and dark yellow pattern, much like the colors in an actual fire.

"K-Kichi…" my sister tugged at my shoulder, "S-Should we go see if s-she's alright?"

"As much as I don't want to engage with her anymore than I have, it's probably for the best," I sighed with exhaustion, praying that Hotaru wasn't going to make another homemade firecracker inside of her tent, "Let's go make sure, sis."

"O-Okay…" she anxiously nodded her head, fiddling with her coat sleeve as she followed me to the arsonist's tent.

We quietly made our way to her tent, hoping to not arouse suspicion or rile her up more, as we approached her tent's flap entrance slowly and lifted the flap ajar so that she didn't notice us peeking inside to watch her. We took a quick peek of the inside of her tent as we were both baffled, but at the same time unsurprised at the interior's design.

 **HOTARU'S TENT**

The walls of the tent were plastered with decals of red and orange fires that were scattered on the bottom layers of the tent's base, while firefly decal hovered over the flames and a box of matches with a few lit sticks plastered setting the fireflies on fire as well, how symbolically ironic.

There was a giant yellow sun-shaped mat on the padded black floors with the tips a swirly orange color that stretched to the ends of the tent. Her bed had a wooden frame covered in a shiny rubbery plastic with what looked to be orange non-flammable blankets and soft pillows covered in red sheets, probably so she wouldn't set it on fire or something. I spotted a bookshelf in the corner of her room, but instead of there being books, there were a few boxes labelled "Flammable Materials" in big yellow and black letters with a warning symbol on the front of the box. There was a wooden desk in another corner of the room but instead of pens and paper, I spotted what looked to be a pile of dust and ashes scattered messily on the table top, with a lighter as well as a few other ignitors that I was both worried about and unconcerned to mention. I spotted a few giant red canisters in the other corner of the room with a few tipped over and spilling a clear liquid on the matted floor, probably lighter fluid, but I wasn't sure Monojoker would allow something like that to be in a student's possession, then again I could be wrong about that.

There were few large plastic bins resting on top of an empty brown table in another corner of the room as I noticed some burnt objects resting inside of the containers; some half burnt like books, wood and toys and the other ones containing non-flammable objects as well such as rubber tires, rubber ducks and a bunch of miscellaneous items.

"D-Do you see Hotaru a-anywhere?" Cherika whispered to me, hoping to not alarm the arsonist.

"Not yet…." I quietly analyzed the tent, scoping it out carefully before giving up, "Let's leave before it gets worse."

"Alright…" she meekly whispered, backing away from the tent's entrance.

I could definitely say that tonight wasn't an uneventful night. This was our first day as participants of the Reverse Revival Program and we've been exposed to so many stimulating experiences, it would give us enough stories to tell our grandchildren someday. I don't really know how the program chose these specific people or if they randomly picked them from a generator or decided on some roulette wheel, I have to say they got both parts normal and wacky at the same time.

"H-How many tents h-have we v-visited, Kichi?" Cherika asked, sleepily rubbing her eyes and a few black bags appearing underneath her blue eyes.

"Honestly...I've lost count sis," I admitted, brushing around my hair and stretching my arms up, "I think we're almost done with our tent extravaganza, heh."

"I h-hope so...I w-want to go to b-bed…" she yawned loudly, "It's g-getting r-really l-late…."

Once she said that, I had completely forgotten the amount of time spent observing and visiting the others. The night sky started growing darker and more pitch black with each passing second, I noticed the moon was half full, it's crescent shape dimly illuminated the night sky as a few minute stars accentuated the sky's ominous and foreboding aura. I wasn't an astronomer, but I could tell it was probably around midnight or close to that time, because we had started exploring at around late afternoon if I recall correctly.

"I think we have two more people to visit," I thought it over for a brief moment, "Chihaya and Genki are the only ones we haven't encountered or visited."

"O-Oh right….those two…" Cherika mumbled nervously, hugging her coat as the cold night breeze brushed against her skin, "Is it r-really a g-good idea to v-visit those two n-now t-though?"

"True, they could be sleeping, but given how some of the others are still awake, I bet those two might be as well," I mused it over from what I've deduced.

"I guess s-so...but after we s-see them, c-can we go to b-bed?" she asked grumpily, sounding a bit more frustrated than I was about this entire idea.

"Definitely, I'm so sleepy I could pass out on the floor right now," I joked half heartedly, "Speaking of which, let's go check out Chihaya's tent first."

"I don't k-know Kichi…" Cherika nervously scratched at her arm, "S-She didn't s-seem so friendly w-when it came to meeting us, a-are you sure that's a g-good idea?"

While I will admit we didn't start off on the best foot with Chihaya, it felt necessary that we check up on her still, out of common courtesy. Even though it was pretty late in the night, it still paid to make sure she's coping with all of this, given the auspicious nature of this entire day.

"True, but it's the right thing to check up on her, even if she's not the most friendly," I responded firmly, "I know she seems a bit bitter, but who knows, she might be really chill underneath all that edge."

"I-I think you're p-putting too much f-faith in h-her…" Cherika looked at me with an unimpressed tired glare, "L-Let's g-go see her."

My sister and I ventured around the carnival once more, wandering aimlessly in search of the clown's tent and hoping she was still awake for us to visit her. Chihaya didn't seem like someone who'd appreciate nighttime guests, but hopefully she wouldn't be as aggressive due to tiredness.

We made our way past familiar-looking tents as we spotted Gabe still outside cleaning. It seemed the garbologist was working himself to the bone with how much he was wiping and cleaning, almost religiously so. I also spotted Banri nearby, lurking in the shadows and watching Gabe cleaning the prize stands. Banri started screaming loudly as Gabe fell back and landed inside of the booth and a whole bunch of dust splashed everywhere. Clearly frustrated, the garbologist shook his head disappointedly as the mystery talented Banri watched him with a confused but creepily happy look on his face.

We passed by the two as we kept searching around the tent area, hoping to find one we didn't come across before. As nighttime crept slowly upon us, so did our sleepiness and grogginess. I felt a bit more sluggish than usual and my sister and I felt less inclined to visit the last two other participants out of fear we might pass out.

"K-Kichi….aaaa.." Cherika yawned loudly, stretching out her arms wide, "I-Is that her t-tent?"

I turned to where my sister was looking towards, sleepily blinking my eyes in the dim darkness as I saw another tent in front of us. The tent was a bright red, white and dark black striped combo and it had a similar color pattern to Itsuki's tent but with a more grittier edge to it.

"T-That must be her tent…" I sleepily remarked, rubbing my tired eyes, "Let's go check to see if she's awake…"

"I-I'm not sure if this i-is a g-good idea.." Cherika sleepily moaned, tugging at my shirt sleeve.

"Just...a quick peek sis…" I tried to sway her, but she seemed a bit hesitant, "F-Fine…"

Cherika stood close by but refused to move from her spot as I went ahead and approached the tent, hoping that it was Chihaya's tent. I tiptoed my way to the tent and slipped a quick peek inside of the clown's tent. What surprised was not that I expected a more circus like theme, but my expectations were a mixed bag if anything.

 **CHIHAYA'S TENT**

Inside of the tent there were decals of clown noses, wigs and horns that were used to to show her status as a clown, so this must definitely be her tent. However I noticed a few more decals such as a few prominent cartoon characters from popular television shows such as Super Squish Gals, Ninja Jax, Coral Rob Round Bottoms and my personal favorite Minor Mutants.

Other than the decals there were a few posters littered around the tent, with what looked to be heavy metal bands such as Steelica, Magnetic Mistress, Twist Hook, Rifles n' Daisies and a bunch of other bands I had no clue of. There was a bed in a corner of the room with a white and red polka dotted patterned pillow and black blanket covers; giving a very edgy child-like theme to it. There was a desk in the corner of the room with a bunch of clown gear such as juggling balls, cream pies and even balloon animals, notepads with jagged written words in black ink on the paper and a red clown wig hanging off the side of the desk. There was a coat rack in one corner of the room with a black leather jacket hung up, a pair of black boots resting underneath and a ridiculously weird yellow and rainbow polka dotted outfit that looked to be torn to shreds. There was a weird multicolored mat that had a picture of a rainbow on it but the rainbow bled black ink like blood.

There was what looked to be a large flat screen TV at the other end of the room, opposite to the bed with a children's cartoon of Bravery The Scaredy Mutt playing on the TV. There was a mini fridge in one corner of the room and a mini snack station that looked to have been raided as it was left ajar and a few food crumbs littered the floor and trailed to the bed. Lastly there was a guitar resting on top of a stereo amplifier and a bunch of crushed cigarettes resting inside of a glass ashtray as the lingering toxic scent of smoke permeated the tent's atmosphere and made it smell worse for wear.

I instantly knew this was Chihaya's room, without even knowing if it belonged to her, just from the decor alone. I took a quick glance around the tent and spotted a figure half asleep on the bed as the TV ran a rerun of an old episode of Bravery The Scaredy Mutt.

The figure's long wavy red hair was messily covering their eyes, their fingers were painted a orangey green junk food dust color; probably because of the bag of Chaatos next to their person as one of their fingers were twitching inside of the bag.

"C-Chihaya?" I quietly whispered, noticing the clown's state.

It seemed Chihaya was asleep on the bed, her mouth agape as cheesy dust coated her pale lips and the green highlights in her hair were coated in a chocolatey brown stain as evidence from the candy wrappers lingering on the floor as a few small ants congregate around some of the leftover crumbs.

"I-Is everything a-alright Kichi?" Cherika's voice suddenly interrupted my train of thought, alarming me as I jumped.

"Agh!" I shouted inadvertently loud as Chihaya grumbled and grunted awake, "Oh crap…"

Chihaya grumpily arose from her peaceful snoring state, dropping the bag of Chaatos onto the floor as she squinted around the room.

"W-Who...the fuck is that?" she sleepily groaned in an annoyed tone, "W-Whoever's there...I will fucking find you….and I will murder you for waking me up!"

As the clown viciously erupted from her once brief slumber, I took that as an immediate indication to leave as I swerved away from the tent's entrance, grabbing my sister's hand and running away from the tent like a speedrunner on a sugar rush.

I ran without thinking as I stopped at a nearby tent and stopped to catch my breath. My face was red as a tomato and my breathing skyrocketed to a million after that. I bent over, hugging my knees as I looked up, facing my sister who was clearly frantic and upset with me.

"K-Kichi!?" Cherika asked with a concerned tone in her voice, "W-What h-happened!?"

"An angry beast….is what...happened," I panted loudly, "W-We overstayed our welcome…"

"T-That's what h-happens when you i-intrude on others," she chastised me, hugging her coat as she mumbled something underneath her breath, "D-Didn't you f-forget what happened w-with S-Shannon?"

"S-Sorry sis…." I sleepily responded to her, a feeling of exhaustion washed over me as I started to feel tipsy and faint, "My bad, again."

Cherika yawned loudly, swaying from side to side as she fell to her knees, "K-Kichi...I'm s-so sleepy….."

I didn't have time to respond to her question as my eyelids felt heavier than a rock. I mumbled out complete gibberish before closing my eyes slowly and my body hit the ground hard, my sister following suit as she too fell faint next to me.

I slipped into an unconscious pitch black stupor. My body felt heavy like lead and I could barely move a muscle, it felt like I was beyond help at that point. I was too tired to react to anything and I felt a warm light brush up against my face as I slowly started to open up my eyes.

"Mmrgh…" I grumbled, my body felt as if I was hit by a large truck, "Wha…"

"Oh you're awake," a male's voice spoke, "I thought you would never get up from how tired you were."

Upon hearing the indistinct male voice, I arose slowly and felt my body resting on something soft and almost cushiony. It was a small brown couch with a bunch of white creme pillows resting underneath my head; almost feeling like a soft cloud.

"W-Where am...I?" I rubbed my forehead, outstretching my arms and hearing a few bones cracking, "Ouch."

"Inside of my tent," the male voice sounded a bit more direct and firm in tone, "There's no need to thank me."

I shook my head and looked around my surroundings, blinking a few times and adjusted my eyes to the unusually dim lighting in the room as I noticed a male figure sitting at a desk and writing something down.

"W-Who are you?" I asked the figure, yawning loudly, "Where is my sister?"

"We've met before Ekichirou," the firm voice remarked with an aloof tone in their voice, "I also recall meeting your sister and if you must know she's perfectly fine, she just had a fainting spell is all."

As my eyes started getting used to the lighting in the room, I took a look at the figure in front of me as I was resting on the couch, their red leather jacket resting on their swivel chair and their dark pink hair slicked back contrasted with their sharp green eyes.

"Genki?" I asked them, remembering that only one person had that color hair, "Is that you?"

"I didn't expect you to take so long to guess it was me," he turned to face me, fixing his white shirt, "But given you were unconscious for approximately an hour and a half with a few minutes to spare, it's completely understandable that you would be a bit dazed."

The risk analyst's unusually calm tone and stoic stare made me unsure if he was being sarcastic or if he was being genuine in what he was saying. I guess we're inside of his tent in that case, which makes a lot of sense since I've never seen its insides before.

 **GENKI'S TENT**

The interior of his tent was patterned a dark red, bright brown and dark magenta striped pattern, probably the same for the outside as well. The decal on his wall was what was strange to me if anything, there were pictures of graphs and charts with colorful arrows and black numbers plastered everywhere with a few percentages and other statistics scattered on the walls with black outlined puzzle pieces decaled as well.

There were about three bookshelves inside of the risk analyst's tent, each row filled from top to bottom with books, each one color-coded and looking to be alphabetized as well. I spotted a giant whiteboard in the room with a bunch of statistics and math equations written on it that seemed too intricate and complex for someone at my grade level to comprehend. His aforementioned desk was messy and there were a few pieces of paper lodged inside of the desks' drawers while there were a few ink pens resting on top of the papers as it seemed he was in the middle of writing something. I spotted a flat screen TV and on top of a small little desk, there was a laptop with a charging station and plug outlet hooked into the walls of the tent.

I noticed a few plants inside of his room that included some cacti and succulents that looked to be watered recently. Next to his bed there was a cat-shaped lamp, much like my sister's, except his had a more natural light to it. On his bed, I spotted a few colored blankets, with more neatly folded and resting on a few comfy looking office chairs and cozy couches that seemed to be near the entrance of his tent. There were also a few hockey sticks resting next to his desk and some hockey equipment resting on the side; maybe he likes sports, who knows.

However, what stood out the most to me inside of his tent was this giant board at the far end of his room that was massive in terms of size and contents. There were a few colored markers and pens lined up neatly near the edge of the board with a few pieces of paper as well as a few weird looking pictures circled in red ink with a bunch of black markered words that were too indistinct to make out.

But what sent a shiver down my spine that topped off the conspiracy-esque vibe of the board was that there were a few pictures pinned to the walls of the board. Specifically our pictures, with a photo of everyone one us accepted in this program.

I noticed that of the twenty one pictures pinned to the board, bar Genki's photo, some of them were circled with red markered ink and a few red words were written underneath, as if Genki were analyzing us and our physical traits or something. I made note of my photo and my sister's, that were lined up next to each other. It seems our pictures were marked with red ink, but there were only two words written underneath. It read 'Are they really related?' almost in an accusatory phrase, like he was questioning my sister and I's relation.

"W-What's that?" I asked him, pointing at the board worriedly and noting all the pictures lined up on the board.

"That's none of your concern, Ekichirou," the risk analyst commented, crossing his arms, "It's just my job to assess the situation and determine all possible outcomes, therefore it's necessary for me to keep tabs on everyone here, including you and your sister, there's nothing to be fearful about."

Despite the overall calm tone in his voice, I couldn't help but feel even more concerned about Genki's conspiracy board. The idea that he was gauging us and judging us based off our aspects and features was what bugged me the most, almost as if he didn't trust us or anything.

Then again, it's not only his talent but since we just met everyone else, it makes sense he would be a bit cautious.

"Oh….t-that s-seems kind of reasonable, I guess.." I mumbled out, sweating a bit, "Honestly it's a bit freaky and somewhat creepy, Genki."

"Oh, how so?" he raised an eyebrow and asked me, brushing back his pink hair, "Is there a problem? Do you have an issue with how I conduct my research?"

"I d-didn't mean it like that," I quickly assuaged his suspicions, shaking my head, "I just meant that the others might find you a bit weird, let alone suspicious if you keep tabs on them like this."

"I see…." he mused over my suggestion, "Well this is just my hypothesis, but from your nervous tone and shaky body language, I think you're overthinking this."

"E-Excuse me?" I tilted my head in confusion, a bit offended by what he said, "What makes you think that?"

The risk analyst didn't answer my question, as I heard a soft moan noise come from one of the other couches as I noticed someone with messy brown hair resting on one of the couches and looking peacefully asleep.

"Sis!" I immediately jumped from my seat and went over to her, putting my hand to her head as I felt it, hoping that she didn't have a temperature.

"Like I said, your sister is perfectly healthy, she just needed time to recuperate and regain her energy," Genki stood up from his chair and went over to his desk, "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to get back to work."

Genki went back to work as he began writing and scribbling notes onto his papers as he completely ignored my sister and I as I looked down at her sleeping face. I still couldn't get a grasp on why Genki does what he does, nor did I get an established idea of how he acted, but maybe I am just overthinking it, like he said. All that matters is that my sister and I are both okay.

"Thank you very much, Genki," I waved to him, carrying my sister on my back as she slept and snored quietly.

Genki didn't respond to my farewell, but I did see him wriggle around in his chair as I left his tent. I emerged from his tent and saw that the sky was still pitch black and was more grey than last time. The dark cloud obscured the moonlight as I walked back to our dual tent, making my way through the darkly lit pathway back.

Now that my sister and I have met everyone else in this program and had gotten a bit more acquainted with them, maybe deciding to come here wasn't such a bad idea after all. As much as I had my doubts about Monojoker, that whole talk about killing each other and the idea that we were the only ones in this abandoned carnival, I brushed that idea aside for the moment.

The carnival had an air of mystery to it and I still had no clue as to why Mr. Yanagi chose this as the project site. As I made my way back to our tent, I sleepily yawned, pushing back the curtain partition and headed into her side of the tent and rested her on her bed and covered her with one of the blankets.

"Good night Cherry," I whispered to her as I made my way to my side of the tent.

"Oh boy..what a day...I'm pooped," I sighed with relief, taking off my jacket and plopping straight onto my bed, "This was such...an eventful evening."

I turned off the lamp next to my bed as the darkness enveloped my side of the tent as my eyelids shut almost immediately. I grabbed the blankets and covered myself as I slept, feeling the soft warmth of the pillow as I trailed off to sleep.

I didn't expect this entire experience to start off on such a high note, but it did leave such a lasting impression if anything. I just hope it didn't get any worse than that, it couldn't…..could it?

* * *

 **Meanwhile at the RRP Building….**

This was an absolute nightmare. No words could describe how perilous this entire situation was, nor describe the rush of emotions that filled me as I paced back and forth in my office hurriedly. I never expected something like this to happen, I never even considered it in the slightest nor thought it would ever occur.

"I hope they get here soon," I nervously spoke, scratching at my arms and pacing faster, "How could I overlook this?!"

I removed my blazer jacket, uncuffed my sleeves rolling them up to my elbows and loosened the tie around my neck to feel a bit more comfortable. It felt as if the room was collapsing slowly in on me, almost as if the crushing weight of the world rested on my weak shoulders.

"Did I do something to deserve this?" I wondered, musing over it for a few seconds, "I always treated every past participant with respect, no matter how callous they were, I never knew one of them held a grudge against me."

After tiredly pacing around my office for a short while, I rested in my leather chair and looked outside of the clear glass windows to the sky. Despite how clear as a day it was, the evening sky felt gloomier and dimmer and almost depressing to look at even now.

"Mr. Yanagi!" a female voice burst out loud, "Your guest has arrived."

"O-Oh!" I almost jumped from the voice, turning around and seeing Miyumi, my secretary, frantically breathing and her hair and makeup a mess, "G-Good...please send them in."

She nodded her head, headed out of the door and I turned back to look outside. My entire office was in disarray and all because of this one damning scandal. I noticed police sirens blaring down below as a few of my office workers and some of the ex-participants were immediately sent to patrol the streets, while some opted to head home to their families to make sure they were alright.

"Why...why is this h-happening?" I rubbed my head, shaking it disappointedly.

"That's why I'm here," said an unknown voice, "What would you do without me, Kiichigo?"

Shocked by what I heard, I turned around in my chair and came face to face with an individual that both took me by surprise, but was also a sight for sore eyes.

"Oh thank goodness…" I clutched my chest, "It's you, Razan, ever heard of knocking? Still entering unannounced and sneaking up on people?"

"Well, I was a former Ultimate, what did you expect," the voice stoically commented, "Old habits die hard."

The figure was a man who had short silvery grey hair with sideburns that seem to taper off the sides of his cheeks, his skin had a fair white tone to it, he had a very alluring yet stoic-looking expression plastered on his smooth, babyface accompanied with his crimson red icy glare; giving him a intimidating aura. He was skinny but had an athletic figure to him. He was tall, maybe around my height or a few inches shorter. He wore a simple white dress shirt with a black bowtie, a black coat-like jacket over his body, black dress pants with black suspenders, polished black dress shoes with black socks, a black stainless steel wristwatch around his left wrist and he carried what looked to be a black briefcase probably filled with his work material or something.

He had a very professional look to him, but due to his line of work, that was commonplace and pretty mandatory if anything. Of course I knew that all too well.

He was someone I'd known for a long time now, probably one of the most loyal yet mysterious people I've ever met in my career working at the Reverse Revival Program.

His name was Razan Tokunaga, a former RR participant, former Ultimate Spy and a close friend who offered his services to me after he successfully completed his program and went on to live his life. Due to confidential circumstances, he decided that he had enough of infiltrating secret bases and taking information and wanted to live a simple life with his girlfriend and his newborn son. His past was a mystery, but I didn't really question it as he was in need at the time and wanted a clean fresh start.

Razan, or Raz as I liked to call him, was someone who, after I helped him lose his talent as a Spy, still offered his services to me, kind of like a private worker. While it might seem a bit counterproductive for him to lose his talent and then immediately come back to his line of work, I knew he was a good guy through and through, despite how he presented himself and how he looked.

"I'm so glad you're he-" I remarked, stopping mid sentence as he put his hand up.

"I was informed of everything on my way here," he interjected cutting me off mid-sentence, "So you lost your next batch of participants and you need help locating and rescuing them."

"Aha...y-yeah…" I nervously chuckled, "I can never slip anything past you, Raz...then again it is your job to know this sort of stuff."

"Nevertheless, Ichigo, it was pretty careless of you to not oversee their safe arrival," he gave me a stern look, addressing me by the nickname he called me long ago, raising an eyebrow while scolding me as if I were a petulant child, "Not to mention this won't look good on your reputation with the public, especially in Hopes Peak's eyes."

"Thanks, not like I know that already," I gave him an unimpressed look, a bit annoyed by his attempt at dry humor, "Are you going to help me or not?"

Razan assessed the situation, looked at me up and down and noticed the anxious look on my face and sighed deeply. He looked almost disappointed to be brought back into the limelight, but this was the first time I had ever needed his services, so I guess that was more of a defeated sigh if anything.

"Of course, I'll do it," he agreed almost too easily, "But I will not charge you anything this time, since it's an emergency and lives are on the line."

"Thank god...you're a lifesaver, Raz," I slumped lower into my chair, feeling some of the intense pressure lifting off of my shoulders, "I don't know how I can ever repay you."

"No need for formalities, Ichigo," he put his hand up, letting me know to calm down, "After what you've done for me, it's the least I could do for a close friend."

The former spy rested his hands behind his back as he cleared his throat, looking to get more serious as we skipped the small talk. With the way he acted, it looked as if he knew what he was talking about, even if it was all spy jargon to me.

"I have a suspicion that the participants are located somewhere in a remote part of Japan," he clearly spoke, not a hint of hesitation in his voice, "If the students were located somewhere in the city, then my agency would have picked up on that a long time ago, meaning they must not be closeby or in range of satellite radar."

"Wow...you're good...where did you get all of this info?" I asked, hoping to hear more.

"A good spy never reveals his secrets, Ichigo," he smirked before going back to his emotionless blank smile, "Anyway, from what I've deduced, it's most likely that they are still in Japan and not anywhere else, otherwise my international contacts would have mentioned something amiss like that sometime ago."

"So they're not in the city, but they're still in Japan...meaning they must not have cell phone or radio service for them to be detected by satellites…" I pondered, making some theories of my own.

"Correct, therefore I have a good idea of where the twenty two participants might be located," he stated clearly, pausing for a brief moment, "I've deduced that they are somewhere in the desert around the Tottori Sand Dunes area near the Chugoku mountains."

My mouth almost dropped in horror when he mentioned that. So whoever was orchestrating this scheme trapped the students in the middle of the desert with no means of contacting the outside world. Then again, I don't think that would be the case, since that area would be a tourist attraction and would probably have some small towns nearby with some communication to the inner cities or villages.

"Wait, if that's the case, why haven't they contacted anyone yet?" I asked the former spy, noticing a flaw in his deduction.

"This is just an educated guess, but I have an inkling of a suspicion that they were under the impression that the site of the program would take place in that specific area of the desert," Raz stated casually, "Therefore, it's safe to say that they are not in any immediate danger or know that they are under duress for the time being."

"Who would have thought….heh," I chuckled anxiously, "I d-don't know what to say….j-just how?"

"That's what I'm here for," he calmly remarked, the tone in his voice getting more serious, "To help clean up and keep this entire mess under wraps and get these kids to safety."

"Thank you so much, Raz," I slumped over onto my desk, breathing a sigh of relief, "I don't know what I would have done without your help…"

"You need to learn to keep calm, Ichigo," he sighed, rubbing his forehead, "Still this entire situation baffles me."

"Huh? How so?" I asked, noticing the expression on his face.

"Well if this were a hostage situation, then why haven't the captors called for ransom?" he commented curiously, "It seems a bit peculiar to kidnap a large group of people and then not demand any sort of monetary proposal."

"If money is what they want, then I'd be happy to oblige," I firmly stated, clenching my fists onto the table, "If it means getting those kids out safe and sound, then so be it."

"You're too naive, Yanagi," he turned around, his back facing me, "But your caring nature is one of the more admirable things about your character."

"Really…" I mused over his words, "So does that mean I have other good qualities?"

"You can also be a bit dense at times," he smirked, making a small chuckle, "I'll be off now, I'll notify you if I've made any progress on this case."

"O-Oh...good luck, Raz," I responded, noticing that he left without a trace, not even hearing the door close as he left my office, "As mysterious as ever…."

I poured myself a glass of water, grabbed a packet of headache pills and swallowed them whole, hoping to dull the seething headache that was about to come. This entire debacle is something I've never encountered before, so I don't really know how it's going to play out.

I just hope those students are alright, I don't think I could face the general public let alone understand the amount of damage control that I have to do with HR.

I stretched tiredly, resting comfortably in my chair as I looked out the window once more, staring at the dark evening sky as dark grey clouds formed above. I don't want to imagine what kinds of trouble those kids are in right now…..I just hope it's not as bad as I think it is.

* * *

 **A/N** : Hello hello hello everyone, it's so lovely to see you all again after such a long time. I hope you all are doing well and it's so nice to see you all again after a long while of not updating.

Sorry for not updating in November, this chapter funnily enough took me longer to make than most chapters and despite how long this story has been out, I've not gotten to chapter one yet XD. I promise chapter one is coming soon, I have the first case planned and the victim and killer's fates are sealed, trust me, I just need a little more time is all to plan things out and get everything sorted.

I've been going through a bit of a depressive bout recently and it took a bit of a toll on my mental health, so I was kind of demotivated and unable to write or focus on writing, given that I nearly had a panic attack from the amount of stress I took in. I'm fine now, just working on some personal issues and keeping busy with IRL life is all, no need to worry about me X3.

That aside though, I am finally happy to announce that we can finally get to the main part of the story and I'm sorry once again for keeping you all in suspense at this story's slow pacing and infrequent uploads. I have to say it wasn't easy but I do enjoy making these stories and I don't plan on stopping anytime soon, life happens so yeah XD.

Enough of my annoying rambling, what did you guys think of the last set of tents presented so far? To the creators whose OC have tents presented in this chapter, I hope I did a good job in portraying them and if there are any changes you want me to make regarding their tent layouts, please let me know ASAP X3.

That's really all I have to say right now, I'm so excited to get this story started after so long, I hope the first chapter, when I officially start it, is good and if you have any theories, I'd love to hear about them in the PMs or the reviews, either one is fine.

I hope you all have a lovely day, night, holiday or whatever it is your celebrating and I will see you lovely people in the next upload or whenever I decide to post next. It means a lot to me that you guys are still reading my stories, despite the lack of uploads, thank you so much for bearing with me through all of this.

Oh before I forget, Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you all, considering this extra long chapter my gift to you guys, for sticking around and reading my stories, I really appreciate it you guys and I hope you all stay safe and have a wonderful break.

Happy reading my fellow readers, authors and otaku alike, I hope you all are doing well and that's it from me for now, bye bye!


	8. Chapter 1: Carnies Of A Feather

**Disclaimer** : This chapter contains extremely graphic and detailed themes of violence, blood, gore and especially gun violence. If you are uncomfortable with this kind of material, I suggest not reading this chapter. With that said, I hope you all enjoy the madness :3.

* * *

My eyes slowly opened up as they wriggled from the intense grogginess that overwhelmed me. I felt every pore in my body give in to the seeping stiffness and pain that soon came after, as I shook each of my limbs to get rid of the pins and needles. I guess I couldn't really fault my body for reacting this way, given that my sister and I stayed up late last night to peruse everyone's tents, honestly I could only blame myself for waking up at whatever hour it was in the morning or afternoon, a fitting price for staying up past our bedtime.

My brain was telling me not to move from the warm comfortable blanket wrapping me up like a human burrito, but I fought back the urge to sleep in, wriggled around like a caterpillar inside of a cocoon and tossed it the side of my bed. As I sat up and stretched my arms out wide, I felt almost every inch of my body pop and crack, almost fearing that I might have dislocated a bone or two, as I sleepily hunched over and processed my surroundings.

"Time to wake up…" I mumbled to myself, sitting up straight, hanging my feet off the side of the bed and noticing that I was still wearing the same clothes as I was wearing yesterday, "I still can't believe I passed out in these smelly clothes…"

I sighed deeply, blinking my eyes to wake my brain up and yawned loudly. I guess today was officially our first day of becoming normal people and revoking our Ultimate Talents. It's funny, yesterday in of itself felt like an adventure, with the amount of people we've met and the whole introduction to this weirdly dressed mascot, it was like an actual carnival attraction in of itself. I still couldn't wrap my mind around the entire scheme of this amusement park, nor did a good night's rest even alleviate the paranoia dancing over my head like a demonic ballerina.

"Oh well...might as-" I mumbled, trailing off as I heard a ringing echo inside our tent.

 **DING DONG DING DONG**

A bell rang throughout the carnival, jolting me out of my brief daze and scaring the living daylights out of me. I grumpily stared around my tent and noticed that there was a random television monitor stuck to the walls of this dingy looking circus tent. The monitor was a regular yellow framed screen, with an art paint splotch background, and I noticed it turned on without the press of a button on a remote, nor did I see one in my tent. Displayed on the TV monitor was Monojoker, sitting in what looked to be an office area on a comfortable leather red chair, and sipping on some kind of exotic rainbow fruity cocktail with a red and white bendy straw that looked like a twisted candy cane resting inside of the cone shaped glass.

"Ahem, it is now 8AM," the messily painted bear announced, "Gooooood morning everyone! Welcome to your first day as Ultimate Rejects! Let's start this initiation off with a banger shall we!" the screen then turned off magically without a remote.

After the mascot's ear deafening announcement, I felt the warm light from outside peer in through the faded decal designs of my side of the tent. The faded green light appeared through the clover stickers as it lit up the tent with an earthy and nature like aura. It was both calming and fitting, but at the same time, I hadn't adjusted to the cartoonish and whimsical designs just yet and I was still reeling in all my mixed emotions about our rather bizarre introduction to this carnival as a whole.

"Oh well...time to seize the day," I yawned once more, standing on my two feet and getting another last minute stretch in before doing anything else, "But first, changing out of these stinky clothes and then checking up on Cherry.."

I trudged over to the nearby closet, sleepily pulling open the doors as I perused it's contents. I did a double take, before soon realizing that my wardrobe was the exact same as the clothes I was wearing before I arrived at the carnival.

"Why do I have five pairs of the same outfit?" I wondered, perplexed as to how the program knew I wore this kind of attire, "It's kind of freakily creepy...but at least I don't have worry about picking and choosing new clothes all the time, so that's a plus I guess."

Shrugging off the unusually suspicious wardrobe, I casually went on with my morning routine, laying out my clothes for the day. While thinking about what was next on the schedule, I realized that these rooms didn't provide bathrooms or any form of hygienic outlet for us to use, not even a personal sink or toilet. It felt unusual to me that our private tents didn't have basic facilities like that, but considering we're in the middle of nowhere, it's kind of expected that plumbing and other necessities like that don't come as easy to people living out here unlike living in the city or suburbs of the inner cities.

"Oh well, time to go see if there are any showers nearby," I pondered, resting my clothes on my bed as I went to scope out the area for a bathroom, or outhouse at the very least.

Before I could resume my search, I went over to my sister's side of the tent, pushing aside the curtain partition and checking up on her to make sure she was alright. I noticed that she was still wrapped in her blanket covers, soaking in a few more precious minutes of sleep as she tossed and turned around in her bed lazily, snoring quietly to herself as her messy hair was scattered over the red pillows she slept on.

I chuckled, noting that she always looked funny as she slept and went on ahead to let her get some rest. While I normally wake her up around this time of day, considering we were up for pretty much the entire night, giving her some extra time is more than warranted given that it's my fault she's so drowsy and lethargic. I guess it was our comeuppance for snooping around as if we were a bunch of thieves scouring for our next target.

"I wonder if the others are up yet?" I thought to myself, leaving my tent still wearing the same clothes from yesterday, "I doubt they'll be up this early, but who knows."

As I walked down the dirty sandy tent pathway, I observed the iridescent sunset overhead in the distance. The dawn's warm soothing tones covered the entire carnival in a radiant glow and the sandy breeze filled the air with a salty fragrance that lingered throughout the area. The reddish orange embers glossed over the entire amusement park, like a painter coating a thick of layer of paint on a blank white canvas, the faded pinks glittered the tents' roofs with a shimmering hue and the black shadows appearing from behind each tent gave off a mysterious and somewhat foreboding tone that was both uneasy but serene at the same time. It was a sensation that I didn't quite understand, but it was oddly tranquil in what was formerly known as a child's fantasy dream world.

I walked around the grounds aimlessly, searching for some kind of restroom and came across a small sequestered area in the middle between two tents. I walked closer to it and noticed a few details that made it stand out from the rest of the tents. It was a small maroon brick building that wasn't as big as the tents; size wise but it was very wide and seemed bigger than it was on the outside. There were two sectioned off parts of the building; one with a male figure painted blue on the right side and the other of a female figure painted pink on the left side. Out of sheer curiosity, I decided to check it out, making sure that it was at least some kind of bathroom or place where I could have a semi decent shower.

I walked into the males section and went to inspect it for sanitary purposes. As I headed inside, noting that the floors were tiled a white square pattern with black lines running in between each one, I turned a few corners and came across something that was out of the ordinary. I honestly didn't expect much from a public bathroom, but to say I was shocked at the display was a complete understatement. I was beyond flabbergasted at the state of it all, it was almost spellbinding.

The inside of the bathroom was much cleaner than I presumed it to be, probably because Gabe went on a cleaning spree the other night and relentlessly scrubbed every square inch of this carnival. There were about five different showers inside; all with thick stone walls in between the other and a translucent glass door covering each shower. There were about three toilet stalls from what I could see upon first glance, the ceramic bowls themselves were scrubbed to a white shine and gleaming polish and the water inside was crystal clear; almost transparent with a flowery scent sticker plastered on the inside of each toilet bowl. I noticed about two urinals as well, both also having been scrubbed clean as there wasn't a trickle of brown or yellow stains on the metal or even the ceramic portions, which made me doubt if this was actually a boys' bathroom and not a figment of my imagination.

There were about five sinks with cartoonishly designed squiggly shaped glass bowls that acted as water basins, with about three different scented hand soaps to each one; purple, green and orange liquid colored and a paper towel dispenser next to the sinks as well as a few wet wipe packets tucked neatly on top of each other. To finish off the unusually pristine condition of the bathroom, there were eleven white towels neatly folded up on top of each other, a few extra rolls of toilet paper wrapped up in a pink flowery plastic wrapping and a bunch of unmarked scented fragrance bottles all stacked up next to each other inside of a brown wooden basket next to some colorfully cans of aroma spray.

"Holy moly! This can't be real, I must be dreaming," I rubbed my eyes, flabbergasted by how immaculate the bathroom was, "I guess the program really did care about our well being, if even the public bathrooms are this clean!"

I gazed around the room some more, still amazed by how beautifully it was tidied up. If this was the state of the male restroom, then the females restroom must be some kind of heaven compared to this. It was at that moment, when I felt something tug at my leg, that snapped me out of my momentary daze.

"Good morning my lucky little student!" a high pitched voice greeted me suddenly, "Taking in the sights are we?"

"Agh!" I jumped in fright, almost slipping on the squeaky clean floor, "O-Oh...Monojoker it's just you…don't scare me like that."

I looked down and noticed the colorfully painted bear standing behind me, watching me with a mischievous smile as the fake blood dripped from it's curled devilish grin. The party hat on top of it's head made me confuse him for one of the other stuffed animals in the carnival booths, which wasn't a far fetched assumption to make. I realized, however, that this mascot had a very unique design, so it was pretty hard to confuse it for a cheap stuffed animal, but looks can sometimes be deceiving.

"Clumsy little fella, aren't ya," the bear chuckled happily, "Here I thought your sister was the one who would slip up first, guess I was wrong, who would have thought."

"What are you doing here, Monojoker?" I asked the bear, curious as to why it was investigating the boys' bathroom and a bit peeved he snuck up on me, "Are you spying on us?"

"Oh no no no, it's nothing special like that," the bear grinned from ear to ear, "Just checking up on my little rejects, like any good host would is all," the bear twirled in place like a ballerina almost comically, "I presume you came to use the shower room, am I correct?"

"Yeah, w-what about it?" I tilted my head in confusion, "Why? Is there something wrong with that?"

"Oh no my dear Kichi, that's not a problem," he snickered like an evil schoolgirl, "However, I should tell you that these showers are currently out of order at the moment, so tough luck if you wanted to freshen up first thing in the morning."

"A-Are you kidding me?" I exclaimed, a bit surprised by this news, "But why have this place looking so neat and clean, to not have the showers working at all, it seems a bit counterproductive, don't you think?"

"Look buddy, I'm not a freaking plumber, so don't ask me about all that crap," the bear shrugged indifferently at my reasonable question, "But the showers will be up and running soon, just be patient, this is why you should take night time showers, they're much more time efficient if you ask me!"

I sighed in disappointment, a bit frustrated that the showers weren't working, but at the same time, I had the feeling it was a little too good to be true. I should have figured this out sooner if anything, since this place was old and abandoned, I guess my expectations regarding proper hygiene should have been pretty low if this was the end result. I suppose this would be considered false advertising on the program's part, but I'm not a plumber either, so might as well suck it up for now and deal with what I've been dealt.

"Does anything else in this bathroom work either, if that's the case?" I asked the bear, hoping there was at least one water source that functioned properly, "Just so we're clear and there need be no more confusion."

"Well Mr. Smarty Pants, if you must know I just managed to get the sinks working, however the water is a little finicky and tends to cut off at certain points during the day," he explained, musing over my question, "So if you wanted to wash off, then it's really up to luck if you'll get hot running water at all or if you end up getting stuck with a cold one, but who am I kidding, you don't need to worry about that minor design flaw."

The bear giggled to itself a bit too ecstatically for my liking, making another jab at my talent as a lucky student, which I guess was meant to be a joke, but it flew right over my head. I mean it's not the first time someone has said that to me, but I never really found that kind of meta humor funny in any kind of situation. Maybe that's why people always called me such a stick in the mud.

"Well that's a shame, you go through all this trouble to make everything look so presentable, only to forget the practical functions of a shower system, talk about ironic," I sarcastically remarked, "I would assume you'd clean up, after making sure everything was in working order, but who am I to judge, you did say you weren't a plumber after all."

"Hey! There's no need for that kind of attitude mister!" the bear pointed it's painted paw at me angrily, clearly irritated by my retort, "Just be thankful I even bothered setting a restroom up in the first place, you filthy millennial snob," he was clearly heated by my remark, "If it were up to me, you'd all be shitting inside a metal bucket and taking turns washing it clean!"

"I hear you, pops," I sighed, slightly annoyed with the bear's excuses and making my own jabs at their creator's age, "Can I at least get some privacy to at least freshen up or something?"

"Sure thing buckaroo!" the bear saluted, changing their attitude at the drop of a dime and doing a bunch of weird flips in the air, "Make sure you don't slip and hit your head on the way out like before, hehehe~"

Monojoker disappeared after making that asinine comment, vanishing like a ghost almost, as I went over to the mirrors near the sink and checked to see if the water was running like he had said it was. I turned on one of the sink's faucets, specifically the cold one, and noticed some water gushing out of the pipe briskly, a splash of water jumped into my face as I felt the brief cold droplets of water wake me up with a burst of sudden energy.

"Woah, that's cold!" I shivered, shaking my head awake as the water flew everywhere, "Let's check the hot water setting now."

I turned the cold valve off and twisted the hot one, waiting a few seconds before a rush of steaming hot water sprinkled out of the pipe as a vapor trail of steam built up and fogged up all the bathroom mirrors inside almost instantly.

"Oh my goodness! It feels like I'm dipping my hand in a boiling pot of water!" I felt the scalding heat touch my hand, as it almost burned my palm, "I'd better tell sis about this for future reference."

I switched the valve off, wiped up the splashed areas around the sink with a nearby paper towel and headed out of the boys bathroom. As I made my way back to our tent, I came across someone walking around the grounds, almost as if they were searching for something themselves. Their very distinct unevenly cut purple hair and cosmic like attire was very iconic and it wasn't that hard to deduce who it was walking in the dimly lit distance.

"Oh! Good morning Nashi," I greeted the soothsayer, about to wave to him but retracted that gesture, "Didn't know you were up this early?"

Nashi seemed almost lost in thought, musing over something as he turned his head and faced my direction. I kept forgetting that he wore a face cover over his eyes, which only made me even more curious as to if he were a cosplayer who took his act way too seriously or if he was genuinely blind and could actually predict the future as he claimed he could. I was a bit on edge since the last time I visited his tent, after he read my fortune, but after thinking about overnight, it's probably just nonsense ramblings in the end. I never really considered myself a skeptical or superstitious person, but I can't help but feel wary around him, good thing he wasn't a mind reader in that sense.

"Good morning, Ekichirou," he nodded his head, his velvet purple hair bounced behind his back as he walked by, "I see you were discussing the shower room situation with Monojoker whilst taking a gander at the carnival itself?"

"How did-" I was about ask before realizing that he was a soothsayer, which I still had issues with believing, but didn't nudge at the topic further, "Nevermind, how did you sleep last night?"

"Not particularly well," he softly remarked, making a small frown, "I fear that dread plagues this not so forgotten carnival, I had another vision of the future, it was a fearsome one at that."

"Oh? What was it about?" I asked him, a bit worried about what he meant by dread plaguing the carnival, "Was it like a bad dream or some kind of omen?"

"It's nothing really...just ignore me, it might have been the rough night's sleep talking," he brushed off my question, dryly laughing it off like it was nothing remark, "This sort of occurence does happen from time to time, you needn't concern yourself with it."

"Okay then….so what are you doing out this early in the morning?" I asked him, wondering what he was doing, "Up for a morning jog?"

"I guess you can say that, the others are all gathered at the cafeteria, wondering how to acclimate to their new predicament," he plainly said in a very passive tone, "I slipped from the group talk to come check up on you and your sister, since you were the only ones not present at breakfast."

"Oh, is that so, I uh..didn't expect the others to be up this early?" I said with a shocked look on my face, "I guess no one here is a late sleeper then, heh."

"Actually some of the others were already awake," Nashi explained, sounding slightly apathetic but unsurprised, "It seems that Norio, Genki, Chihaya and Tsukae were all up late last night fighting their insomniac tendencies from what I had envisioned, and some of the others didn't take too kindly to being awoken so readily as the rest."

"Ah, that makes a lot more sense…" I sweatdropped at his comment confirming my suspicions, "Well I was just-"

"Heading back to your tent to go get your sister?" he interjected, anticipating what I was about to say, "Don't worry, the others are still eating breakfast, so you're not missing much, Ekichirou."

"That's good at least...well I'll see you later Nashi," I acknowledged his message, walking back to my tent casually, "Just going to freshen up a bit, have a nice morning."

"And the same to you too," he waved to me, walking back to his mystical tent, "I wish you all the best."

"Thanks? I guess," I scratched my head at his rather odd remark, "Oh well, I'll just leave it at that."

The soothsayer and I parted ways, heading back to his as I felt a cold morning chill brush past me as I made my way back to my tent. Knowing that the showers were out of order put a dent in my morning schedule, but I think I could live one day without showering, hopefully no one else noticed any kind of smell, that would be an embarrassing moment I'd want to live down compared to slipping on my butt.

I entered through my side of the tent, undressed quickly and rested my old, dirty clothes on the side of my bed, wiping myself down with a few wet wipes I took and put new clothes from the wardrobe. I put on my shirt, pants, shoes and jacket and did my best to brush around my messy blonde hair with my still damp hands, trying to not go for another windswept look, but ended up having more loose strands than my regular bedhead look. I never really cared how my hair was styled since I always wore a hat on my head, but I think this morning was one time where I could make an exception.

"Welp, time to see if Cherry is awake," I thought, heading over to her side of the tent, pushing aside her curtain partition, "Morning sis, you up yet?"

I gazed around her tent side, still a bit freaked out by all the bad luck motif surrounding her tent as I saw a huge lump covered by a red blanket resting on top of her bed. I chuckled, amused by the fact she was still asleep like the night owl she was and approached her quietly, tugging at the bed covers gently to not upset her first thing in the morning.

"Wakey wakey, sis!" I tugged considerably on the covers, pulling them from her bed, "Come on, this is our first day of normalcy, surely you don't want to miss it!"

I dropped the blanket to the floor, noticing my sister curled up in a ball on her bed as she slept peacefully, snoring her morning away as if she didn't have a care in the world. Her messy brown hair covered her entire face making her look like some kind of horror movie demon, it seemed she also wore the same clothes as she had on since yesterday and she looked so comfortable in her temporary new bed, that I almost wanted to put back the blanket covers back over her and let her get a few more minutes of rest. However if she wanted to attend this program, she'd have to get up first before anything else, it'd be rude to keep the others waiting.

"Wake up, Cherry," I nudged at her softly.

"Mmmm…" she moaned, sleepily moving around in her sleep, "Not now Mr. Fluffy Bottoms.."

I shook my head, rolling my eyes at her sleepy mumblings, until a thought popped into my head. That method always worked when we were late for school.

"Sis, there's chocolate chip pancakes!" I told her, hoping that'd be the ticket, "Mmmmm! They smell so chocolatey and good right now!"

Suddenly as if almost like magic, I felt her hand touch my arm as I felt her body twitch from hearing me speak. Her hands were clammy and cold to the touch, but it didn't really bother me all that much, considering the incident with the sinks.

"C-Chocolate pancakes!?" her voice chirped happily, her eyes flickered open as she arose, facing me with her wild bedhead, "W-Where!? T-Tell me where t-they are!"

"Heh, works every time," I smiled slyly, laughing at her cute and childlike response, "Time to get going sis, the others are waiting for us to get to the cafeteria."

"S-So...no pancakes?" Cherika whimpered, feeling slightly dejected as she blinked her tired red eyes.

"I bet there will be some at the cafeteria," I reassured, crossing my arms, "But first you need to get dressed, you lazy slug."

"Alright…." she yawned loudly, rubbing her tired blue eyes, "W-What time is i-it?"

"I think it's around 8 AM, close to 9," I responded, forgetting that there wasn't a clock inside of our tent, "But we still have some time before we meet the others."

"Okay...g-give me a few minutes to g-get ready…" she sleepily replied, slinking her way out of bed, blinking her eyes rapidly as she made her way to the closet to get changed, "K-Kichi is there a b-bathroom around here?"

"Yeah there is, but Monojoker just told me that the showers were out of order," I responded disappointedly, "So I guess we have to improvise for now until the plumbing gets fixed, it sucks but what can you do?"

"I g-guess that makes s-sense…" she mumbled, picking out of her clothes and laying them on her bed, "B-But why are all our clothes the same as w-when we a-a-arrived?"

"Not sure, but hey, at least it beats having to color code and organize our clothes the night before, am I right?" I joked lamely, hoping she'd laugh back at my corny attempt at comedy.

"You're such a w-weirdo, bro," she giggled softly, "D-Did the b-bathroom have any w-wipes?"

"Oh yeah right! Here you go," I handed her a packet of wet wipes, "These were in the boys bathroom, but I'm pretty sure no one will miss them."

"If you s-say so…" she trailed off anxiously, taking the wipes, "C-Can you give me a little p-p-privacy?"

"Alright sis," I nodded my head, walking over to my side of the tent, "But if you need any help, holler, okay?"

"Yeah…" she nodded her head, shooing me to my tent as I passed through the curtain and lazily plopped myself on the bed.

So far so good I guess, nothing out of the ordinary had happened so far. I guess maybe I was really over exaggerating everything, granted I was a little drowsy from the car ride here and from staying up late in general, so I guess my judgement is a little loopy right now. It's strange how a program would provide us with clean facilities, yet present us with a decayed and decrepit site for the project, it didn't really make much sense in the grand scheme of things. While Cherika was changing I took the dirty clothes from yesterday and stuffed them inside the wardrobe underneath the fresh clothing as to hide any evidence that we lived like slobs.

"Alright, I'm ready K-Kichi.." Cherika said, passing through the curtain and heading into my side, "Now...where are the p-pancakes? I w-want chocolate chip pancakes!"

I sat up and noticed the expressive glee on her face, her smile was sheepish but cute, her cheeks were flushed red and her eyes were rounder and less droopy this morning. If I knew my sister, a good night's sleep and pancakes are always what gets her raring to seize the day.

"Did you make sure your hair was brushed properly?" I asked, noticing her bed head was still untamed.

"U-Umm...I uh.." she squirmed around, rubbing her knees together, "C-Can you brush it f-for me K-Kichi? I'd do it...b-but...the brush g-gets stuck in m-my hair.."

"Sure thing," I chuckled, remembering that the last time she brushed her hair by herself, involved lots of hair pulling and a sharp pair of scissors, "Hand me your brush from your bag."

"O-Okay…" she nodded contently.

Cherika walked back to her side of the tent as I waited for a few minutes. She then came back after a few minutes of searching and handed me a red hair brush with black bristles and a black butterfly pattern on the backside of the red frame; something she's had with her for a few years now given the amount of messy loose strands ensnared in the bristles and the worn down overall look of it. I'd forgotten how long she's had that brush, I think it was a birthday present from someone when we were in middle school, but I couldn't remember who gave it to her, all I knew is that she usually carried it around with her like a good luck charm or something.

"Here…" she handed me the brush, turning away from me and sitting on the ground, "D-Don't brush it too h-hard now…"

"Alright, you know me all too well," I chuckled at her remark, as she sat down facing away from me, "Now hold still now."

I began passing the brush through her messy brown locks, feeling the split ends and knots instantly get tangled up in the brush as I tugged on it gently, hoping to not rip her head off in the process. After five attempts I was able to unknot her hair as I continued brushing it delicately, her messy strands started falling into place, minus for the strand that swirled near the front of her forehead.

"There we go, all set, sis!" I put the hairbrush on the side of my bed, fluffing her hair out a bit, noticing a few messy strands still poking out, "This is the best I can do on such short notice."

"T-Thank you K-Kichi.." she said, turning to face me and smiling calmly, "But still, w-when are you g-going to f-fix your h-hair?"

"What's wrong with my hair?" I asked her, raising an eyebrow, "My hair not cool enough or something?"

"N-No nothing like t-that," she giggled at my obliviousness, "B-But you really s-should get a h-haircut soon, bro."

Maybe she was right. My hair was kind of messy and did tend to sweep around a lot, but I like to think it gives me a certain charm to my look. Usually people are freaked out by my red eyes given that they stand out the most from my overall appearance, but my hair? That's the first time I've been told to get a haircut. I don't really see much issue with it, aside from the constant brushing it down and gelling it to the sides, I think it made stand out and feel special.

"Yeah yeah, well let's just go to the cafeteria alright sis," I rolled my eyes at her, "You done yet?"

"A-Almost...just g-getting my s-shoes on…" she said, hurriedly fixing her red gemmed brown sandals on her feet, "K-Kay..I'm done.."

"Great, I'm starving let's go," I nodded my head, heading out of my tent as my sister followed close behind, almost tripping on her footing as she exited the tent.

"So how'd you sleep last night?" I asked her, as we walked to the outdoor cafeteria.

"Decent-ish I g-guess…" she shrugged, fiddling with her coat sleeves, "The bed's a-are s-soft if a little b-bouncy...but it was s-s-something."

"Well let's hope the breakfast menu items are better," I laughed it off, putting my hands in my pocket, "Although I'm not really expecting much healthy food options…"

From when we arrived, it seemed that from the food displayed, it really did seem like the project was going for a whole carnival-esque theme or something. However, I highly doubt that a program that was supposedly helping us, would not provide us with at least a few healthy options, considering most of us don't really seem the type to binge on just junk food alone. Not to mention what if anyone had allergies, some of the items might contain peanuts or something, it's all the things that I shouldn't really be concerned with, considering everything was provided for us, but with the overall greeting we've gotten, I guess my suspicions are somewhat warranted.

"Did you enjoy meeting the others yesterday, Cherry?" I asked her, trying to make playful conversation as we walked along the dusty path.

"I g-guess so...some of them w-were nice...but o-others were…" she trailed off, feeling a bit stumped for the correct word to describe the others, "...interesting, I-I guess?"

"Heh, that's a pretty nice way of calling them weird," I chuckled, "But I will admit, I wasn't expecting this group to be so motley as it is, but I really do appreciate the diversity."

"Y-Yeah…" she responded, hugging her coat around her body, "S-Something smells g-good…"

My sister looked around the area, sniffing the air as an intoxicating scent wafted around in the air. The same scent tickled my nose as I searched for its origin, following the alluring scent as we made our way to the cafeteria where the others were. It seemed that everyone, with the exclusion of Nashi, were present at the cafeteria, some awake and positively ecstatic to seize the day and a few who stared icy cold daggers at the vivacious ones and looked as if they wanted to sleep the morning away judging from the loud yawns and black bags underneath their eyes. It's no surprise that some of us might have been late sleepers, but seeing some of the others awake and already attending to breakfast was what made do a bit of a double take.

"Huh, looks like everyone's here," I mentally noted, taking in the atmosphere as my sister followed closely behind as we entered into the outdoor cafeteria.

It seemed that Asahi and Shion were helping to cook and prepare breakfast for the others. The tea brewer was standing over a hot stove making eggs, bacon, toast, sausages, hash browns and potato fritters, while the songwriter was busy making pancakes and waffles and pouring cups of water or juice for the others. It's as if the two of them were like the default parents cooking for the entire group, almost as if we were a bunch of children. I didn't really have any issues with it, I was just glad to see that there were more people who were good at cooking than I originally thought.

Chris seemed to be eating a lot of food, in particular a lot of meat as well as a few apple slices on the side. I guess if he liked exercising at night then he must eat a lot the next morning. I assume being a knight must be tough work, especially if he's to maintain a body like his, but I'm not really all that informed on knights in general so I can't really speak to that effect.

Itsuki, Shannon and Ayano were talking with each other; or more so Itsuki and Shannon were still bickering with each other as the eSports Pro acted as the mediator between the two. They argued loudly as the EMT stabbed his fork into an egg rather fiercely and the runner ate her waffles, cutting into each slice and taking small bites of each, chewing with her mouth open as to annoy him even more. Ayano simply ate a stack of strawberry pancakes as she felt the tension between the two of them grow more and more hostile and her appetite started to dwindle.

Gabe, Jun and Tsukae were all half asleep but still ate their breakfast. The garbologist drank a glass of orange juice rather sloppily as some of it spilled onto his clothes and then on Chris' armor and some if it ending up inside his eyes. The knight winced in pain from the citric acid as he grabbed a few napkins from nearby and started dabbing his eyes, while Gabe seemed upset that he ruined his clothes as he tried soaking up the mess off the table tiredly.

The digital artist sat awkwardly with her arms at her side and her head nearly touching the ceiling, with her fork stacked with bits of syrup covered pancake, as it took a long time to reach her mouth due to her long arms dangling underneath her hoodie and hindering her movement. The charmer simply drank a glass of hot milk, sipping it as she pushed back some strands of hair, nearly sucking on one strand and spilt some of it all over her sweater as she gagged. She sleepily shook her head, lazily grabbing a napkin as she continued drinking her beverage casually.

Hotaru and Shiho were both talking rather loudly as it seemed the two were discussing a rather heated topic while eating their breakfast. The arsonist and the survivalist seemed to be having a conversation about something related to wildfires or something as Shiho scolded Hotaru for her actions last night and Hotaru stuck her tongue out at her. Shiho didn't really have much to eat aside from binging on a small plate full of sliced fruit shaped into a flower and Hotaru simply ate a few slices of burnt toast covered in butter.

Hibiki, Aki and Galiana were talking with each other as the jpop idol playfully teased the scientist and the prosecutor, the notion going over Galiana's head as she haughtily laughed to herself and Aki simply enjoying their company. Banri sat near them, as he was oddly enough, nibbling on some coffee beans with a bag of them resting on his lap. The mystery talented boy seemed engrossed in the conversation, still keeping that creepily smug smile on his face as he continued munching on the beans as if he were an impressionable toddler, listening to the conversation with a confused look on his face and moving his head back and forth to the respective speaker.

Chihaya, Daiko, Norio and Genki were the only ones sitting by themselves, completely silent in their own little worlds. The clown grumpily ate a strip of bacon, gnashing on it loudly as she sipped her black coffee out of a plain brown mug. The attorney had a napkin tucked underneath his neck as he used a fork and knife to eat his food, his uncaring attitude towards the others made him look like a rich person who refused to fraternize with the common folk. The vigilante didn't seem that interested in conversing as he stayed the farthest from the others, eating an apple as he stood near the edge of the wall. Lastly the enigmatic risk analyst, Genki, was busy writing something in a red book using a black pen, as he ate his breakfast at the same time, like a businessman trying to make deadlines meet at the last second. If there was anything to note about those four, was that they were clearly not morning people.

With almost everyone here, aside from Nashi, it made us all look like one giant family….a very dysfunctional and lively one at that. My sister nervously hid behind me shaking like a leaf, as I walked into the cafeteria, she clinging to my sleeve as we went to greet the others.

"Aha! The twins of fortune join us at last!" Galiana proudly announced, cackling to herself as she ate a piece of sausage, "Welcome back to the realm of reality!"

"Good morning you two," Shion politely greeted us, giving us a small smile as she turned one of the waffle griddles around, "Please feel free to eat as much as you like, we're just making extra."

"Good morning everyone!" I happily greeted the group, "I didn't know you guys were making breakfast, you didn't have to go out of your way to do that."

"It's no worry, Mr. Yoshirenku," Asahi interjected, flipping over an egg sunny side up, "I'm used to cooking this early in the morning, it's just what I like to do, so there's no fussing here."

"I s-see…" Cherika noted, sniffing the food as drool dripped down the side of her mouth, "A-Are there a-any...chocolate c-chip pancakes?"

"Perfect timing, Cherika," Shion flipped a few more pancakes on the griddle, "I was just about done with this next stack, just let me get the chocolate chips and I'll give it to you when I'm done."

"Y-Yay!" Cherika smiled, her cheeks blushing brightly, as she took a seat next to me on one of the available benches, "C-Can't wait."

"Did you two sleep okay last night?" Aki asked, smiling from ear to ear rather energetically, "Are you feeling better since yesterday, Cherry?"

Cherika simply nodded her head, still a bit groggy from just waking up, acknowledging the scientist's gesture as she eyed the pancakes with a lustful look almost.

"We did, the beds are unusually soft and creaky, but we made due," I remarked, covering a yawn with my hand, "Everything's good, thanks for asking Aki."

"No problem!" she cheerfully giggled, "All that matters is that we're all together and doing well for ourselves on this wonderful morning."

"Speak for yourself sunshine…" Chihaya grumpily nibbled on her bacon strip, her dyed red hair obscuring her cold blank stare, "I wanted to fucking sleep, but you morons demanded I join in on the fun due to some kumbaya bullshit or something…"

"I'd much rather eat by myself, but I don't really see the harm in it in all honesty," Daiko shrugged off the notion, not too bothered by the overall group breakfast "I'm just glad that there's decent food here in the first place, even if it's just eggs and meat."

"Given the amount of health violations and codes this carnival is breaking, I'm surprised the food isn't covered in slop and or growing mold," Itsuki scoffed, cutting open his egg as the cheesy liquid spilled onto his plate.

"Well it's better than nothing," Ayano interjected, tugging at her compression gloves, "I have a sweet tent set up, so I'm all content with how this project does its business."

"Seems a bit naive if ya ask me," Norio grunted, sipping his cup of coffee, "But if something bad does end up happening, don't say that I didn't warn ya."

"Oh, there's nothing to worry about everyone!" Shiho suddenly jumped out of her seat, "The winds and trees are telling me that today is going to be an exceptional day! Exceptional indeed!"

"I think you might be eating too much forest berries in that case," Gabe sweatdropped, looking even sleepier than before, "Just don't cause anymore mes, I spent all of yesterday cleaning and I don't need anymore problems than I already have."

"You act like such an old lady, Gabe," Tsukae added snidely, sipping her warm milk, "Then again, better you than me, I suppose…"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Gabe asked, seeming a bit glum and offended by the charmer's off handed remark, "You know what, forget it."

"Can I just eat my breakfast in peace, please," Shannon tiredly sighed, fixing her messy bunned hair, "Jeez you people need to take a chill pill."

"Maybe you should take your own advice, princess," Itsuki wryly commented, with a hint of sarcasm in his tone, "Wouldn't want your precious little breakfast spoiled by people talking now would we, oh no the horror!"

"I would punch you in the face," she gritted her teeth, slamming her fork on the table, "But I'd rather not dirty my hands from touching your filthy face."

"Everyone, at ease!" Chris shouted, getting everyone's attention, "We mustn't fight with each other! We are here for the same reason, there is no need for discourse and petty arguments."

"I agree with Mr. Tincanpanbrain!" Shiho giggled, giving Chris a pet name, "The kami hates fighting, let's not argue with each other and let's all have fun today!"

"Tincanpanbrain?" Chris gave the survivalist a confused stare, "Lady Shiho, what do you mean?"

"What kinda fun we talking about here?" Hotaru asked now engaged in the conversation, smiling mischievously, "Does it involve anything fire related? I can bring my matches."

"Uh, I don't think that's what she meant, Hotaru," Hibiki eyed the arsonist with a concerned gaze.

"I have no idea what you guys are talking about, but it sounds like fun!" Banri waved his hands in the air, nibbling on a few coffee beans, "Much more fun than shooting guns and punching things in the face!"

"Let's not do anything too rash here," Genki commented, still writing his notes, "I'd like to have a peaceful orientation without any further trouble if possible."

"Agreed," Daiko added, nodding his head to what the risk analyst said, "I have enough things to worry about as is, I just want to get this entire thing over with and not have to deal with the crazy prosecutor anymore."

"Aha! Never fear, my fated rival," Galiana put a hand over the attorney's shoulder, "Once we are done with this entire project, we can pursue careers in the same field together."

"Don't touch me," he inched away from the prosecutor, removing her hand from his shoulder, "Also no, man I really should have invested in that restraining order," he mumbled that last part to himself, as I overheard it.

"Does anyone know when it starts?" Jun asked, eating her food at a rather snail's pace, "I still have uh...a few projects…to work on."

"Yeah that's true," I remarked, knowing that we were never given an itinerary for the coming weeks, "Did anyone get a time schedule? Or was there some morning announcement we weren't aware of?"

"Not really…" Tsukae said, blinking her tired eyes and passively staring at everyone.

"If there were any special events, we'd inform everyone," Asahi added, carrying a plate of long thinly sliced bacon and warm gooey eggs to the table we were on, "It seems not even Monojoker has anything planned today, as far as we know."

"H-How odd…" Cherika mumbled to herself, staring at the food in front of her with drool spilling from her lips, "T-This looks so g-good, thanks A-Asahi."

"It's my pleasure," he bowed, giving a small smile and rubbing his hands together, "Please help yourself!"

"Thanks!" I happily thanked the tea brewer, "I'll get that for you Cherry."

"T-Thanks K-Kichi…" she said, tugging at her coat sleeves.

I grabbed two of the available paper plates from in the center of the table and rested mine by me and the other by my sister. I noticed a pair of metal tongs on the side as I grabbed a few pieces of bacon and neatly placed them on her plate and did the same for mine, and I grabbed two eggs for each of us carefully.

"Oh almost forgot about drinks," Asahi pounded his fist into his other hand, realizing what he had forgotten, "I've made some tea if you're interested, it's a new blend called Earl Grey."

"Nice, I'd like to try some," I happily nodded, as the tea brewer went over and prepared the tea.

"C-Can I have j-juice, please?" Cherika asked politely, "O-Orange preferably…"

"Coming right up!" Asahi gave her a thumbs up, attending to her drink as well.

It's almost funny, my sister and I never really had a breakfast as eventful as this. Even at home, it wasn't as cheery as we'd like it to be, but we made due with what we had. For once it was nice seeing Cherika so excited to start her day, I wish I could capture this moment in time and keep it with me forever, but alas I didn't pack a camera.

"Here you go, Cherika," Shion happily announced, presenting my sister with her pancakes on a paper plate, "Eat it while it's still hot."

"T-Thank you, S-Shion!" Cherika said, staring at the five stack of pancakes made by the songwriter.

Without hesitation my sister, grabbed her plastic fork and knife that Asahi had set next to her plate and began cutting into it slowly. I wanted to help her cut it, but knowing how she behaved the other day regarding my overprotectiveness, I think I should at least give her a few chances to prove she can handle herself. I knew it sounded really weird for me to be babying her like that, but given our past circumstances, call it force of habit. I watched as she grabbed a clear mug filled with maple syrup and began pouring a lot of it over her pancakes, watching the brown glaze drip off the sides of the plate as her eyes sparkled with glee.

"W-Wow...the chocolate is m-melting.." she smiled in awe, inserting a small piece into her mouth carefully, "Mmmmm! This so s-sweet! I love it, thank you so m-much, Shion!"

"You're welcome, I appreciate the compliment," Shion passively smiled, brushing back her maroon hair, "Here's your orange juice," the songwriter placed a paper cup next to my sister's plate.

"O-Oh yeah, thanks," Cherika stared at the cup of juice, resting her cutlery to the side and sipping from the cup, "T-This tastes...r-really fresh and yet k-kind of sour."

"Do you like it?" Shiho appeared in front of us, "I handpicked those oranges the other day, while searching for blueberries, the kami is a truly wonderful god indeed! Who needs man made food when he's already given us the resources just snuggled away in nature."

"W-Where'd you get them?" I asked the survivalist, a bit curious as to how she procured the fruit, "Did you buy them?"

"Nope, I found them in the bounties of nature!" Shiho giggled, hopping back to her seat as she nibbled on an orange slice.

"There's a garden or some shit around here," Chihaya sipped on her coffee loudly, "I found it while searching around this stupid place, nothing to be excited about."

"There is? I didn't notice one around here?" Aki wondered, putting her finger to her lips in curiosity, "I should really check it out later."

"It's right next to the flower garden," Shannon remarked, sipping a cup of water, "After Hotaru's little blaze incident, we decided to salvage anything we could find, and found a fruit vineyard nearby of all places."

"No thanks to Mr. Killjoy over there," Hotaru eyed me with contemptuous stare, "You just had to ruin my fun.."

"Seems like you're getting along with each other very well," Hibiki teased, giggling to himself, "Do I sense some sexual tension in this room?"

"What!? No of course n-not!" I firmly said, immediately disputing the claim, "I just didn't want there to be a fire is all, gotta b-be sure with that kind of s-safety hazard is all."

"Guys, can we just eat in peace.." Ayano sighed, finishing her meal and setting her stuff aside, "All this fighting is making me kind of tense."

"Agreed, the food is getting cold," I nodded, digging into a slice of bacon and covering it in yellow egg yolk, "Mhm! This is amazing, you guys really went all out for us, you didn't have to do that."

"Like I said, it's the least we could do," the tea brewer bowed courteously, "After all it was Ms. Ninomiya's idea if anything."

"I was just taking into account the lack of food options available is all," the songwriter remarked humbly, eating three pieces of dango on a wooden stick, "If we didn't have such limited resources, we might have made a traditional Japanese breakfast as well, but we used what we had at the time."

"This food is yummy! Much better than military rations!" Banri chirped up, a bit hyper from the coffee ingestion, "Almost as good as eating cheese pizza!"

"Maybe you should lay off the coffee, Banri," Gabe sweatdropped, still wiping his sleeves from the spilled orange juice mess.

Everyone seemed to be in decent moods this morning, despite the turbulence and a few of the late risers. I have to say that they are adjusting quite well if anything, even though they seemed just as confused as I was upon meeting Monojoker yesterday. It's oddly strange, but it's nice to eat with other people like this, my sister and I rarely get the chance to have a nice meal like this without worry too much about where it came from.

I turned over to my sister, it seemed she was still eating the chocolate chip pancakes from the look on her face. She was blushing pink red, her small smile still present on her face, as she poured lots more syrup on her last dry pancake. The pure joy on her face was very precious, I'd rarely seen her so happy before and it warmed my heart to see her integrating into this program rather easily. I told her she didn't have much to worry about, I guess this must be the first step in getting accustomed to everything.

"Has anyone else explored the rest of the carnival yet?" Chris asked, finishing up a waffle slice, "I'd venture onwards, but I'm currently nursing a swollen arm."

"That reminds me, how'd you hurt your arm again, Chris?" Aki asked, noticing a bandage wrapped around the tragic knight's right arm.

"I uh..it's quite embarrassing, Lady Aki," he nervously blushed and looked away from the scientist, "Let's just say I fought more than a wild beast, fear not it ran away in the end."

"No one cares…" Tsukae rolled her eyes, sipping the rest of her milk slowly, "Are we done here? I'm too tired for this...are we ever going to start this program or what?"

"Me too…." Jun sleepily remarked, covering her mouth and leaving her food half finished, "I think I might….draw later….helps kill some time."

"Kukukuku~ I see it is up to me to enlighten you all on my wonderful findings!" Galiana stood up proudly, alerting everyone around the table, "For you see, my brilliant deductions have found that this carnival is large and hiding many mysteries! It is safe to say that we must continue exploring if we are to fully utilize each of this park's venues!"

"We figured as much," Shannon said coldly, eating a strip of bacon, "No need to point out the obvious."

"I see…" Galiana sat back down, noticing the unimpressed looks from the others, "Other than that, I have no new findings, but I assure you all, I will find them soon!"

The prosecutor's brave words seemed to fall on deaf ears as most of us just ignored her boisterous comments as we continued our conversation. Despite her grand monologuing, I had the feeling she was hiding something. I don't think it's really something harmful, but I get the sense that her grandiose and eccentric personality comes from some kind of insecurity she has, judging from her jittery body language. However I'm not a psychologist, so I couldn't really give my final thoughts, since I've just met her and all, but I can tell she's trying her best.

"Aside from that," I sweatdropped, feeling a bit sorry for her, "I found a shower room, but it's not working properly…"

"Oh, what do you mean?" Genki asked, finishing his notes and eating an soggy egg.

"Well from what Monojoker said, it seems that he's still doing renovations, so the showers don't work," I added, "But other than that, everything else seems to be working, unless you count the water cutting off in the sinks at certain points."

"That sucks…" Itsuki groaned, sighing in disbelief, "Pretty stupid design flaw if you ask me, kind of pointless.."

"But is it really hygienic?" Shion asked, eating a pink dango ball, "I mean the idea of using a public bathroom like that, is a bit concerning."

"You see that's the thing," I nodded in agreement, "I can't really speak for the girls' bathroom, but I noticed that the boys bathroom was immaculate, clean floors, sinks and the whole nine yards!"

"That seems kind of weird for a public restroom," Asahi wondered, removing a black apron he had wrapped around his waist, "But I trust your word, I will have a look at it later."

"You sure you didn't take a sneak peek in the ladies room, Kichi?" Hibiki smiled, teasing me again.

"For the last time, no," I adamantly said, "One of the girls will have to go check instead."

"You sure about that?" Norio wondered, watching me with a deathly kind of stare.

"Y-Yes!" I firmly stood my ground, even if I was a bit cautious around the vigilante.

"You have no sense of humor, do you Kichi?" Ayano smirked, finishing up her pancakes, "But I'll take your word for it, you need to learn to loosen up a bit."

Well if being called a potential pervert is me having no sense of humor, then I'm fine with being boring and called a stick in the mud. I guess this is what it meant to have playful banter, honestly I never really cared for it. We all do come from different backgrounds, so my sense of humor doesn't necessarily match up with theirs.

"Whatever…" I rolled my eyes, eating the rest of my breakfast as everyone continued conversing with each other playfully.

"It's okay b-bro," Cherika patted me on the back, "You're still a dork to me."

"Is that supposed to make me feel better?" I looked at my sister with a bemused stare.

Soon some of the others began laughing at our antics as we all finished our meals and continued having small talk.

For a moment, I had forgotten why I had attended this program and what my original purpose was. I had wished to see what we were planning to do for the day and the upcoming weeks to come, but I felt myself getting lost in the moment of it all. I'd never really had this kind of feeling before, it felt almost alien in nature, to be chatting with a group of people my age, without fussing about their hidden intentions. For the first time ever, I felt relaxed and calm.

As we continued conversing over breakfast, a loud screeching noise blared over the intercom system, shocking most of us awake from our dazed slumps. I turned my head towards one of the TV monitors placed next to one of the cafeteria poles and saw something pop up on screen. It was the same image of Monojoker sipping on the exact same fruity drink and sitting comfortably in his lounge chair as if he were some kind of cartoon villain.

"Ahem! Hello there my little rejects, I see you're all adjusting quite well and all that fluffy good stuff," the painted bear grinned mischievously, "But all that must come to an end however, head over to the main square, I have a lovely little surprise waiting for you guys and I want you all to be there in person, later gators!"

Before any of us could react to the bear's sudden announcement, the screen turned off by itself as everyone turned to look at each other. Our peaceful attempt at a casual breakfast, quickly ruined by the mysterious bear's antics.

"Time to face the beast," Chris said, gripping his fists as he set aside his plate of unfinished food, "I have my sword and shield just in case he tries to hurt any of you, I swear he won't harm a hair on any of our heads."

"How cute," Chihaya scoffed, unimpressed with the knight's display of courage, "What are you going to do? Slice him into little bitty pieces and hope he stays dead?"

"Lady Chihaya please, do not mock my swordsmanship skills," the knight rebuked the clown's sarcasm, "I've full confidence in my abilities, so you've nothing to fret!"

"Yeah yeah, whatever helps you sleep at night, tin boy," she rolled her eyes, brushing back her red hair and sipping the last few drops of her coffee.

"What should we do?" Gabe asked, throwing away the soiled napkins in a nearby trash bag, "Is it safe to humor the bear like this?"

"I'm not really sure," Aki replied, a bit worried but curious as the same time, "But it doesn't hurt to check and see, who knows, it could be some kind of welcoming party."

"I don't know about that," Hibiki thought over it, a bit skeptical of the entire thing, "What if he's just messing with us or something? From how passive aggressive he was, I don't think he'd willing do something like that for people he called a bunch of brats, sweetie."

"Well it doesn't hurt to find out now does it," Daiko added, shrugging off the bear's eccentric notion, "Besides, I'm bored out of mind, hopefully the bear can provide us with something to do in the meantime."

"Someone's had quite the attitude change," Ayano noticed, raising an eyebrow at the attorney's sudden interest, "But I'll bite, I'm curious to know what Monojoker has in store for us as well."

"In that case, I'll go find Mr. Akira," Asahi remarked, fixing his bow tie nervously, turning off the stove and heading out of the cafeteria, "I won't be long."

"I'll clean up in the meantime," Shion mused over what to do, trying to distract herself with chores, "Does anyone want to help me clear up the table?"

"Might as well," Shannon sighed indifferently, "I need to contribute my part, I suppose."

"I'll help too," Gabe interjected, unsurprisingly, "I've went over every inch of this place, but I've yet to finish cleaning this area, so might as well get a head start while I'm at it."

The runner and garbologist then left their seats, carried everyone's messy plates over to one of the trash cans near the stove tops and began getting to work, whilst the rest of us were unsure of what to do next. The sudden spike in anxiety increased and the shift in tone was apparent after the bear made his announcement, the tension could almost be cut with a knife.

"Are you alright, sis?" I asked her, curious as to how she was dealing with the sudden announcement.

"I'm f-fine...w-we should get to t-the main square.." Cherika stated, tugging at her jacket sleeves, "I'm k-kind of s-scared..."

"Me too…" I responded back, a bit worried for what the bear plans to do with us, "But it's going to be alright, I'm right here if you need me, you can always hide behind me if he tries to do anything."

"O-Okay…" she nervously grinned, "I'm alright...for n-now..thanks, Kichi."

Seeing my sister so happy and then so dejected all at the same time, filled with me a sense of doubt and paranoia. It seemed that every time she had a single moment of good luck or joy come her way, it's always trampled over by some outside force or bad circumstance, as if her life was programmed that way from the get go. I felt bad that I was born with all this good luck, but she's been granted essentially a curse, in all honesty. I don't really blame her for feeling so cautious and confused about this entire thing, if anything, I even doubted my own judgement regarding this project as whole. Was this really what Mr. Yanagi had in store for us?

"You two kiddos lost in dreamland?" Hibiki called out to us, "Come on, don't wanna keep the bear waiting, now do we?"

Snapped out of our ephemeral daze, the jpop idol and a few of the others went on ahead as my sister and I were trying to reel ourselves together for this upcoming orientation, or whatever it was Monojoker had in store for us. We knew next to nothing about this bear mascot, and all of a sudden we're immediately thrust into the action as soon as we wake up the next day. It's all very peculiar, but honestly we didn't know what else to do. If we were to get any answers, all we could really do was play along with the bear for as long as we could.

"Come on you two!" Shiho jumped over to us, grabbing both of us by the arms as she dragged us out of our seats, "Let's go see what the bear has to offer! Come come!"

"H-Hey!" I felt the survivalist tug at my shirt sleeve as her skinny athletic arms pulled me out of my seat, the same with my sister, "W-We're coming, n-no need for tugging!"

"W-Wah!" Cherika yelped, feeling her arm being tugged on as if it were a rope, "W-Wait a minute.."

"No time for waiting you two!" she giggled, her twintails bouncing against her chest, "The kami says those who wait to be fed, must suffer the dire consequences of their insolence."

Her very joyful expression coupled with her foreboding words were a mixture for disaster, but since we didn't have a choice in the matter, we went along with her anyway. She eventually let go of our arms, skipping merrily ahead of the others as she was the first one to arrive to the main plaza. My sister nearly tripped over her footing, as I helped her up from the ground, it seemed Shiho's ebullience also came with a side of carelessness as well.

"You okay sis?" I asked, taking her hand and helping her stand, "You didn't get any dirt on your clothes?"

"Nope...n-nothing like t-that," she wiped some dust from her face, "W-Where here, but where's M-Monojoker?"

"I don't know," I replied, looking around the main square and taking note of what the others were doing.

Hotaru, Banri and Genki were the next ones that arrived after we did, the latter being the one that shocked me the most. While Genki didn't seem like a weird person, his placid facial expressions and his passive tone of voice made me slightly cautious around him, considering he had a giant board inside of his tent with everyone's pictures pinned up and circled with red ink, with very cryptic messages written underneath each one, almost as if he were some kind of conspiracy theorist. The risk analyst sat on a nearby bench, watching the others arrive as he continued jotting down notes in his little red book he kept next to his person, probably assessing the situation at hand.

The arsonist and mystery talented boy both seemed to get along rather well, a bit too well if you ask me. Hotaru pulled out a box of matches, lit one of them and waved it in front of Banri's face. He seemed almost entranced by the yellow light as he followed it around vigilantly, his golden irises trained on the fiery flicker. She smirked, blowing out the match as she continued doing the same thing again as Banri kept on watching, flailing his hands in the air as he accidentally swatted the matches out of her hand. She was annoyed he did that, but he didn't seem to care as he cackled wildly to himself.

I noticed Tsukae and Hibiki conversing with each other, almost as if they were best friends from the way they talked with each other, upon arrival. I'd never seen the charmer so engaged in a chat with someone else, but I barely knew these people, so I didn't really know them on a personal level. The jpop idol giggled playfully, listening to the charmer drone on as the pair continued chatting like a bunch of gossiping high school girls who'd known each other for years.

Chris, Galiana and Aki both arrived next at the same time. The tragic knight steeling himself, ready for what Monojoker had in store, brandishing his sword out and posing heroically. Galiana complimented the craftsmanship of his blade, admiring the slick sheen and the sharp metal that looked almost weathered from the looks of it. Aki watched the two conversing quietly, as it seemed she was confused by their very grand and verbose dialect and didn't feel like ruining their fun. She quietly hummed something to herself as she fiddled around with her satchel bag.

Soon the others started to trickle in one by one, with Daiko, Chihaya, Nashi and Asahi arriving one after the other. The lawyer seemed bored as he leaned against a rusty light pole, the clown crossed her arms as she did the same, grumpily muttering something to herself angrily. From the looks of it, the soothsayer and tea brewer were getting along quite well, they were conversing casually with each other as Asahi was somewhat impressed by Nashi's telepathic skills and how he was able to predict the impending future, although I could see a bit of skepticism on his countenance.

Itsuki and Norio soon followed, the EMT watching the vigilante trail behind the others as if he were some kind of brooding anti-hero scoping out his prey. Itsuki seemed peeved by this as he distanced himself from Norio, while the vigilante didn't think much of it as he watched everything from afar, standing at the far end of the rest of the group and stoically watching us like some kind of silent overseer.

The last set to arrive were the ones who stayed behind to help, Shion, Shannon and Gabe. All of whom seemed to be talking about something as well. Ayano and Jun were the last ones to arrive, as it seemed they were quite disoriented from how large this carnival was and probably got lost trying to find this square.

"Looks like everyone's here," I perused the area, a bit wary of what's to come, "But where's Monojoker?"

"I d-don't know.." Cherika mumbled, nervously watching the others as she fiddled with her gold heart pendant, "I h-hope it's nothing b-bad…"

We waited for a few minutes patiently, taking note of the quiet stillness of the carnival and how derelict it was, before hearing a bunch of distorted carnival music being played over the speaker system. The eerily creepy music lingered throughout, as it was repeated on a loop in an almost grating manner, with a few of the others getting intensely pissed and impatient. It seemed that our host, or whatever he was, liked to arrive late from the looks of it and if anything.

"Hideho everyone!" Monojoker appeared on the wooden stage, posing oddly with his hands in the air and his legs outstretched wide, "I'm so glad you all could make it! Please excuse my tardiness!"

"What is the meaning of this bear?" Chris asked, steadying his hand over his sword scabbard,, "What to do you intend to do with us?"

"Jeez, ever heard of patience, Chrissy," Monojoker glared at the knight, unamused by the knight's attempt at valor, "I just wanted to wish you all a good morning and then say my piece is all, no need to get your bloomers in a bunch."

"So why are we here Monojoker, what's your big announcement?" Daiko bluntly said, cutting the small talk and getting to the point, "You mentioned a killing game, but yet we're all still clueless as to what you mean by that."

"I'm pretty sure I made it plainly clear that I wanted you all to kill each other," Monojoker pouted, talking in a very relaxed tone, "What's so hard to understand about that?"

"Well firstly, you didn't really give us a good explanation or idea of what we are in for," Shion mentioned, restlessly shifting around, "Some of us are under the impression that this is all some weird game show or some prank."

"Is it a game show?" Itsuki scoffed, "Pretty shitty choice in location for one if you ask me, but it's fitting if the producers are a bunch of try hard pranksters."

"Hey! I take offense to that, Itsy," Monojoker growled, teasing the EMT with a childish nickname, "I went to great lengths to find a good location for this killing game, don't shame me for my lack of resources and time management!"

"What's with the stupid nicknames," Chihaya grumbled, clearly still groggy from breakfast, "You're already treading on very thin ice, bear, just cut the shit and tell us what you want!"

"Fucking hell...alright!" Monojoker screamed, alerting most of us in the carnival with his sudden shriek, "If you all want to be impatient brats about it, then have it your way!"

"W-What do you m-mean?" Cherika asked, scared of what's to come.

The bear didn't humor my sister's question, walking to the back of the wooden stage and pulling on some kind of golden rope from the side of the wooden podium. With that, a loud vibration shook the entire carnival like an earthquake, as the rest of us clinged on to the nearest objects to keep our balance. While that was happening, a huge rumbling noise emanated from the wooden stage as Monojoker watched us stumble around in amusement.

I closed my eyes, kept my calm as Cherika clung to my side as she squeezed my arm tightly, shivering and quivering with fear. She nervously breathed and panted, she was too scared to take deep breaths as her grip tightened and I tried my best to keep face.

"Everyone be careful!" Galiana warned us, keeping a calm stance as her legs started shaking.

"Brace yourselves!" Norio shouted, extending his arms out wide as he surveyed the scene.

"AAAHH!" some of the girls collectively screamed, afraid of what's to come.

After a few minutes of turbulence, the earth stopped shaking as I opened my eyes to see something magically appear on top of the stage. What was on the stage next to the colorful bear was something that none of us saw coming. It was almost whimsical and out of place, much like the rest of the carnival, but it seemed almost apropos considering how spontaneous and larger than life it was.

Resting on top of the wooden stage was something large and round in shape. It reminded me of one of those roulette wheels you'd see on any game show; much like a wheel of fortune. It was shaped like a weirdly curved circle with pointed ends lit up with rainbow colored lights, it rested on top of a black and white metal stand and there was a red pointed arrow resting on top of the wheel. On the edges of the strange contraption were black and white ribbons accentuated with red blood like curls that danced around the fabric, red and blue triangle like shapes inside of the circle with black dots on each one and it looked almost unordinary in nature. I almost did a double take at how comical it all was from the overall presentation.

"Here we are," Monojoker smiled from ear to ear, "You happy now? I was waiting for a little more ambience before bringing this bad boy out, but you little rascals seem to be very busy from the looks of it, might as well get it out of the way now."

"W-What is this?" I asked, a bit fearful and sweating nervously, "Is it some kind of game or gimmick?"

"I guess you can call it that, Kichi," Monojoker snickered evilly, "But this is what I like call, the first motive!"

"What do you mean by that?" Asahi wondered, "Is this by chance part of the killing game as well?"

"Why you are quite right indeed, Asa," Monojoker beamed a devilish smile at us, "And here's the best part, you're precious family and friends are all apart of this wonderful experience! How amazing!"

"Huh?" Shannon raised an eyebrow, "What does our family have to do with this?"

"Again, you're not making any sense here, Monojoker," Ayano shook her head, "What's the wheel for anyway?"

Instead of answering their questions, the bear giggled some more, walking over to the giant roulette wheel and turning it on by pressing a giant red button off the right side. As the wheel itself lit up like a Christmas tree and the lights started blinking rapidly one after the other, a few small pictures appeared on the circle, almost like pixelated faces from an 8 bit game. On the circle were about twenty two faces, each one looking similarly to our faces. From the looks of it, it seemed Monojoker was going to spin the wheel and decide which one of us, was going to experience this particular and quite elaborate motive, whatever it was.

"Why are our faces on that wheel?" Gabe asked, a bit curious and nervous at the same time, "That's kind of freaky."

"Hush Gabby," Monojoker silenced the garbologist, "I was just getting to that part."

"How pretty...reminds me of one of my..drawings," Jun smiled passively, staring at the bright lights on the wheel

"Basically, this entire motive is all one big game of chance!" Monojoker playfully explained the rules, "As I turn the wheel, it will start spinning and once it stops, it will randomly choose someone, pretty fundamental stuff."

"I guess that's fairly simple," Shion thought, somewhat intrigued by the bear's proposition.

" So if it lands on one our faces, are we going to get a prize or something?" Hotaru wondered, her eyes lighting up with excitement, "I hope I get a new packet of fireworks if that's the case!"

"What an oddly specific prize to want…" Hibiki sweatdropped, "But if there is one, I want a new set of clothes, I don't like wearing the same thing over and over again, sweetie~"

"It's probably some lame gift coupon.." Tsukae yawned, already bored by what she was witnessing.

"Even better than that, Sue," Monojoker put his hands behind his back, "Would you all please kindly turn your attention to your wonderful Monopads!"

As he said that, a loud beeping noise emanated from each of our Monopads much like a text message notification. My sister and I took out ours as we saw a little notification bell in the top right corner of the home screen, with a red number one over it. Unsure of what the message was, I reluctantly tapped the icon and saw a message that was marked 'Live Video Feed'. I was a bit perplexed by what it meant, but when I heard the others reactions to their messages, I nearly had a change of tune.

"Oh my god!" Aki shrieked rather loudly, almost jumping out of her shoes as she said it, "How? Why them!?"

"This is pure insanity!" Chris gritted his teeth in anger, trying his best to contain his rage, "You monstrous fiend, you will pay for this!"

"How could this happen..." Asahi mumbled, in a somewhat exasperated tone as he stood still with fright, "Everyone…how d-did this even h-happen.."

I noticed everyone's individual reactions, some covered in panic, others indifferent to what they saw and some fuming with anger and confusion, paralyzed with conflicting emotions. Nobody was able to formulate a cohesive sentence as most of it ended up in a sea of broken phrases and jittery mumblings. I felt even more dubious of what I was about to see, if not a little panicked.

"Is this a freaking joke?" Itsuki furrowed his brow at his tablet's screen, "What an overused and cliche tactic."

"I don't really see how this is a good motive," Chihaya gave off a small sadistic smile, "Jokes on you, I couldn't give two shits about these people."

I turned to my sister, eyeing me with a worried and upset expression as the look of dismay was plastered on her face, as was mine. I was curious as to what the video entailed and pressed on the video message, as it took me to another loading screen. The video began buffering as an image appeared on screen. The video in question was very vivid, if not lifelike and in the video, I observed a bunch of people sitting inside a room and staring back at me.

"O-Oh my goodness.." Cherika said with a faint breath, almost as pale as a ghost, "K-Kichi look.."

I did what she said and played the video, anticipating the worst from everyone's mixed reactions. I expected some kind of weird gotcha video where it was pranking me with something I thought was real, but if anything, this video showed me much more than that. It was beyond horrific.

"What is this?" I wondered, until I looked closer and saw the people in question, that's when I stood there, aghast by what I saw, "Oh my god!"

In the video, here were a few people tied up with stiff brown rope, but it was hard to make out how many there were due to the camera placement. The bound people were struggling on the cold hardwood floor, their mouths duct taped shut, their reddened eyes filled to the brim with salty wet tears and rouge red blood splattered everywhere around the room, on their clothes and even some parts of their bodies. However, there were two people that garnered my attention the most; two adults propped up on the brown couch with lurid green and yellow striped throw pillows resting next to them, a man and a woman, probably in their late forties or older from the age marks on their faces and their attire.

The man on the left had short, messily combed dark brown hair that was ruffled up from the scuffle. His deep green eyes profuse with clear tears and sliding down the sides of his cheeks, his fair white skin was coated in dried up blood stains and he wore very business casual clothing with his white dress shirt stained red with blood splatter, tattered and torn with holes peering from his sleeves to his torso, his black pants were crinkled and almost ripped to shreds with string falling off the sides and he wore no shoes on his bruised feet. He looked worse for wear, but much couldn't be said for the lady next to him. She had long dark blonde hair that reach down to her mid back with side swept bangs and curly strands framing her face that was scattered all over her face and distressed from all the struggling. Her fair white skin was bruised with her bright blue eyes ruined by a black eye on her right eyelid and she too was covered in blood splatter just like the man. She wore a simple light blue cardigan over a pale green blouse both covered in bloodied stains and dark brown dirt and mud, her navy blue skirt was ripped from the seams and covered in blood and she wore only one white flat shoe on her left foot, with her other shoe missing..

"Mom…..Dad….." I stared at the screen blankly, my voice monotone and the worried expression disappearing from my face, "What exactly is this Monojoker?"

"Well I'm glad you asked, Kichi!" the bear cackled, seemingly proud of his rather gruesome handiwork, "This here is what I like to call, Russian Family Roulette!"

"I…oh no…" Jun nervously frowned, a bit of emotion showing on her placid face, her hands shaking as well, "Dad... w-what happened to y-you?"

"M-Mom...how did find her!?" Shannon cried in disbelief, "I...this isn't r-real.. It can't be.." she looked almost ready to make a bolt for the entrance, but was too shocked by what she saw to move from her standstill spot.

"How dare you!" Galiana boisterously shouted, her face boiling with calm fury, "I demand you explain how you did this! How did you acquire our families!?"

"Oh my, I can't give away all my trade secrets now can I, Gally?" Monojoker smugly smirked at the prosecutor, enjoying her riled up disposition.

"I foresaw this would happen…" Nashi gravely responded, despite his lack of sight, heard the voices loud and clear, "I never thought this would come true…it is as I feared.."

"No...t-this has to b-be fake.." Ayano stuttered, shakily holding her Monopad, "I thought...h-how..I.." she was too baffled for words.

"But this can't be fake," Shiho said, seemingly unphased by what she saw, "Look, they all look like real people to me."

"That's not what she's talking about, Shiho," Gabe looked at the survivalist with a confused face.

"Let me guess," Norio interjected, gripping his fists tightly, "You plan to use our loved ones as leverage to get us to kill, did I get that right?"

"Oh my, you're so smart, Oreo!" Monojoker clapped condescendingly at the vigilante, "Yes, since you brats won't take me seriously, I simply had to get my hands dirty and do it the hard way! So in reality, you brought this all upon yourselves!"

"Y-You can't b-be serious," Hibiki frowned, all the life from his face disappeared, "How d-did they...g-get captured like this!?"

"My lips are sealed, Hibbie~" the bear smiled evilly, his sharp teeth bared for all of us to see, "It wouldn't be much fun if I told you know, would it, it'd ruin the surprise."

"B-But how could….Mr. Yanagi allow this?" Shion said in disbelief, her knees shaky and barely able to keep her balance, "T-This wasn't w-what I signed up for."

"I think it'd be fairly obvious," Daiko said calmly, but I heard his voice crack briefly, "This isn't his doing, but rather it's all this bear's doing," he continued, "This was never about the program, this was all a scam and we're all being held hostage."

"I figured as much.." Genki said, completely stone faced, but taken aback by this revelation, "All the variables didn't match up with my research...no wonder the driver took off the GPS."

"Mom…" Tsukae simply said, completely shocked by what she saw as her eyes lit up, contrasting with her normally tired look.

"Y-You foul demon!" Chris grabbed his sword and shakily gripped the handle, walking steadily over to the bear, "H-How dare you bring innocent lives into this! You will pay!"

"I'm sure I will in due time, but first I need you all to entertain me first," Monojoker giggled, snarkily responding back to the knight, "Now here's how this game will work, turn your attention here, my lovely little rejects!"

I looked up from the screen, facing to where the bear wanted us to look, as the roulette wheel lit up even brighter. The flashing lights hovered over our respective pictures, as I stared at the one with my sister and I's faces stuck next to each other as one giant triangle compared to the others. I kept looking at the video on my Monopad and at the wheel simultaneously, watching with disgust at both. I didn't really feel anything in that moment, I just watched it all happen, unable to stop it as the psychotic bear watched us panic like headless chickens.

"Without further ado!" Monojoker put his paw on the wheel and spun forcefully, " .Wheel!"

The wheel began its deadly cycle, rapidly turning like a spinning top. With every second that passed by, a sense of dread and worry lingered around in the tense, musty atmosphere. Everyone was completely on edge and distraught for their respective family and friends, that no one knew how to respond to the rainbow painted bear, taking malicious delight in our fear. Soon the wheel started to slow down, the others staring at it closely, unsure of who would be the unlucky winner in this lethal game show.

"N-No.." Ayano gasped, scared beyond relief, "W-Why me!?"

The red arrow on the wheel landed on someone's face, specifically Ayano's picture. The eSports Pro seemed almost sick to her stomach, her face turning ghostly white, trembling in her shoes and too afraid to speak out against the final result.

"Yay! Congrats Aya, you're our lucky winner!" Monojoker cheered, pointing at her amongst the large crowd, "Now, will all of you please turn your attention to your Monopads once more!"

At that point, I didn't know what to do, as I glanced back to my Monopad in terror. Instead of seeing my family and friends, I saw a different group of people that appeared on the screen. This time I saw three new figures pop up, all bound by rope, their mouths duct taped and their eyes ridden with blood stained tears, as they struggled around for dear life. There was an older man sitting in the middle of a red couch, alongside a teenage boy; probably around our age on his left and a woman, around the same as the man on his right. From the looks of it, they looked to be a married couple and the boy was most likely their son. Ayano's face said it all, these people were her mother, father and her brother.

"No! Stop this at once!" Galiana shouted once more, trying to appease the bear.

"Now why would I do that?" the bear sniggered.

"P-Please, no…" Ayano cried in pain, stifling tears as she quivered frantically.

"You know what to do boys," Monojoker smiled, as if he were talking to someone through the video monitor.

"Yes sir!" a deep male voice answered back, "You heard him, men!"

"W-What is t-this?" Shannon said, horrified at what she saw, "W-Who are these people?!"

"Oh no.." Ayano was terrified, her skin turned pale at the sight of it all, "K-Kageyo.."

As we continued watching the live video, a bunch of armed men wearing Monojoker shaped masks and clad in black SWAT gear all lined up, pointing their black rifle guns at the kidnapped people. The muffled, terrified screams of the three people were all loud and clear, one of the armed men approaching the older man, grabbing him off the couch and shoving him to the ground, the camera panning over to him as the gunman readied his rifle to his face at point blank range.

"Any last words!" the gunman removed the duct tape from the bound man's mouth.

"NO!" Ayano screamed loudly, scaring most of us straight with her broken and tear filled cries.

"Ayano...I love you...y-you've made the proudest f-father ever...I-" before the man could finish his words, the gunman began unloading a torrent of bullets into the man's body mercilessly.

"AAAAA!" a loud scream could be heard coming from somewhere, but I was too distracted to see who it came from.

The video was vile, gruesome and above all, graphic. The masked gunman shot his rifle repeatedly, no sense of humanity could be found on his masked face as he continued pumping the defenseless man with rounds of golden bullets. Ayano's father didn't stand a chance, his body was punctured with multiple bullet holes, blood pouring out from his body like a crimson fountain and blood splatter painted the white walls red with his blood. The flashes made counting each bullet round indistinguishable, the flurry of bullets pierced the man's body and colored his entire body red, his guts exploded everywhere and on the other two bound people's bodies as they screamed in horror and cried loudly, unable to stop the brutal murder.

"Oh my g-god…" Gabe looked on in horror, his mouth agape in horror, "I uh….umm…"

"You monster..." Galiana said coldly, gritting her teeth and stomping over to the bear, showing him the video, "Why did you unleash a hailstorm of terror upon these innocent people! Tell me why or suffer the wrath of the Silver Dragon!"

"Hmph, I don't need to explain myself to you," Monojoker crossed his arms, unapologetic about his underlings shooting a man in cold blood, "You should be thanking me for livening up your boring enrollment and giving you something to work towards."

"How pathetic," Hotaru snorted, clearly unimpressed with what she saw, "Not even a banger of an execution, lame."

"How can you be so calm at a time like this!?" Aki stared at the arsonist in disbelief, "Someone was just murdered!?"

"Don't worry everyone, this bear won't get to all of our families," Shiho chirped, unusually happy even though she saw someone get gunned down in front of her eyes, "The kami will wish this man a safe passage into the afterlife, we must use this as a way to get closer to each other."

"Screw that hippy dippy shit!" Itsuki reproached her, "How the fuck can you say that when someone just got gunned down like that!?"

"This reminds me of one of those bad zombie video games I used to play," Chihaya observed the video, completely apathetic towards what she saw, "There's no way this is real, it all looks fake."

"Oh but it is very real indeed, Chi Chi," Monojoker waved his paw at her, "I mean it's a live video after all, how hard is that to understand?"

"You're taking an immense amount of pleasure in this, aren't you?" Shannon questioned the bear, clearly frustrated and scared by what she saw, "You really are the scum of the earth."

"Clearly…" Tsukae remarked, unable to say much of anything else after that.

"Why thank you, I take pride in ruining everyone's day," the bear snickered once again, taking pleasure in someone's grief.

"A-Ayano?" Cherika nervously approached the eSports Pro, alongside Shion.

I looked towards Ayano, noticing the defeated and dead look on her face. She was slumped on the ground, resting on her knees as she didn't look at anyone else, her eyes almost bulging out of their sockets as her lips quivered shakily. She felt lifeless and limp like a ragdoll, not even bothering to move around as she dropped the Monopad out of her hand and resting on the ground next to her. The look of pure despair on her face was unforgettably picturesque and transparent.

"A-Ayano...it's going to b-be alright.." Shion said, consoling the eSports Pro.

The songwriter tried her best to comfort the distressed and unresponsive girl as some of the others approached the stage with looks of both anger, contempt and hostility directed at Monojoker. The rest of us tried to huddle around Ayano, but she didn't look up, not once removing her gaze from the dusty sand on the carnival ground.

"Do you wish for an early grave?" Norio gravely said, giving the bear a death stare as he cracked his fists loudly, "I can make that happen."

"How could you do that!?" Chris brandished his sword and readied his fighting stance, even though he was clearly nervous as the rest of us, "I swear on my honor as a knight, that you will pay for your crimes!"

"Save me the grand speeches and droll dialogue, boys," Monojoker yawned at them, "Just letting you all know, if no one kills by each passing day, then you get the idea of what happens next, let's just say there will be more than just bullets."

"I feel sick.." Tsukae covered her mouth, gagging a bit from pure aversion, "I should not have drank that tea…"

"N-No it can't be…..mother...father...my s-siblings," Asahi was beside himself, on his knees and completely flabbergasted with sadness.

"I need to go….lie d-down," Jun simply said, feeling a bit light headed as she sat on a nearby bench and fumbled around due to her large stature.

"I never imagined a gruesome tragedy like this would befall us," Nashi commented, a frown plastered on his pale face, "This is serendipitously unfortunate….how fate is a cruel mistress indeed."

"No fucking shit, fortune boy," Chihaya sneered at the soothsayer, "It doesn't take a fucking genius with a working pair of eyes to see how messed up this is."

"But who were those people in the video, were they the enemy?" Banri wondered, surprisingly unphased by what he saw in the video, "That man was like a bullet sponge used in military combat training!"

"Banri, that's not the case right now," Shion scolded him, perturbed by his indifference to the situation, "I'm assuming it's Ayano's family…"

"Oh…" the mystery talented boy paused for a moment as all the pieces came together in his head slowly, "I still don't know what's going on! But there were so many shiny bullets! They all went flying like missiles! DAHAHAHAHA!"

"You're really weird," Hotaru commented dryly, "And that's coming from me of all people."

I noticed a few others, such as Genki who was clearly shocked by the graphic display, a few sweat droplets trickled down the side of his head as he began nervously playing with his golden watch. He jotted down a few notes in his little book, but the pen in his hand fell out as he breathed rather anxiously as he picked it up. I see even he could lose his cool at moments like these.

"K-Kichi…" Cherika hugged my arm, as I turned to her, "Is h-he really...d-dead?"

The look of anguish on her face was filled with pure fear. I felt her body grow cold as she shook like a leaf, trembling as her eye nervously twitched and she looked too frazzled to believe that that violent display was actually real.

"I don't know sis…" I told her, unable to fathom what I just saw.

"Now do you all get the gist of it," Monojoker sneered at us, his paws on his hips, "Next time you brats wanna play dumb and not follow any of my rules, this happens." Monojoker grumbled under his breath, "So get to killing each other already, I have other matters to attend to, ta ta now!"

After that, Monojoker disappeared from the stage like a faded blur. The giant fortune wheel was still present on stage, the lights turned off and the wheel stagnant and void of color. It was a sight that I couldn't comprehend or process, despite the context of it all. The demented bear wanted us to kill each other, it's not even a game show...it's a real game of life or death.

"W-What do we d-do?" Cherika asked, scared of what might happen next.

"I say we fight the bear!" Galiana interjected, cutting my sister off, "We have the numbers, we can make him talk and give us answers!"

"Are you fucking nuts," Itsuki looked at the prosecutor contemptuously, "Did you see the armed gunmen, who's to say that psycho bear doesn't have his little minions lurking around here as well."

"He's right," Daiko added, agreeing with the EMT, "I normally would like to play the devil's advocate, but I think we should not get on that bear's bad side."

"I think that would be for the best…" Asahi noted, still feeling a bit shaken, "Still...how did he get to our families so quickly?"

"Most likely the bear hacked into our personal files," Norio suggested, clearly angry but keeping his cool, "It's the only logical way to think about it."

"Does that mean we're not here to actually get our talents removed?" Shiho chimed in, clearly unaware of the situation at hand, "That's not what I signed up for, that is false advertising I say!"

"Gee, what took you so long to figure that out, genius," Hibiki stared at the survivalist with a worried look, "But how are we supposed to combat the bear, guys?"

"I can fight him!" Banri jumped in, giggling excitedly, "I have training in this sort of fielf, I can punch that ursine into submission like a battered training dummy!"

"I don't think violently attacking the bear, will help us in anyway either…" Shannon rolled her eyes, clearly disgusted with what she saw, "I'm not taking my chances with getting gunned down either….no matter how much I want to see my family safe."

"Then what do you propose we do?" Tsukae asked, tired but still awake from all the commotion.

"I suggest we wait."

Everyone stopped talking and we all turned our attention to where the voice came from. I saw who it was and noticed Genki still sitting on the bench, trying to piece together the entire debacle in his mind and speaking out amongst the chaos.

"What do you mean wait?" Chris asked the risk analyst, "If what the knavish bear says is true, then…"

"If we are to act rashly upon this revelation, then we'd just be giving him what he wants," Genki stated, watching everyone staring at him as if he had all the answers to their dilemmas, "For now, I say we plan a countermeasure and the solution is simple, we will plan a party."

"A party?" I asked, out all the things he's come up with, that was what took me by surprise, "What kind of party?"

"Well given the locations at our disposal, I suggest a pool party at the water park," Genki calmly nodded, "If we are to give in to the bear's demands, then that lowers our chances of survival and also our loved ones, statistically speaking if we are all assembled in one place, then it's highly likely if anyone is to strike, then we'd stop them and prevent that from happening."

"I mean that sounds like a good idea," Aki pondered over it, still uneasy from the video, "But is that really something we should really be concerned with?"

"If you have any other suggestions, feel free to come forward," Genki stated, not a hint of doubt in his tone, almost as if he had this all planned to the letter, "If you have a better solution, then by all means, I am willing to hear it."

Nobody seemed to want to step up and speak their mind on the matter, as the risk analyst completely dictated the entire conversation. It was weird how someone like him, given his very deferential tone and casual attire, could be so skilled in something like this. His words were very persuasive at that, he's so confident that a murder wouldn't occur, almost as if he could have forsaw it, almost like Nashi.

"But what about...our families?" Shion asked, still comforting Ayano, "If what he says is true…"

"I think he's trying to say that if we all succumb to the motive, then the bear wins, but if we inspire morale and throw the party, then we will be able to defeat the bear at his own game," Daiko summarized Genki's words, "Am I on the mark?"

"Quite right," Genki nodded his head, "If anyone would like to plan this party, you can find me in my tent, I will organize the preparations and I will also assign roles, if anyone's interested in volunteering."

"You really think throwing this fucking party is going to solve shit?" Chihaya protested, still perturbed by everything, "Who's to say the bear's even telling us the truth, that video could have been doctored or photoshopped."

"And if it's not?" Gabe added, a hint of pessimism in his tone, "Someone did get killed before our eyes, I mean there was blood and guts and everything."

"How ironic for the clown to be against parties," Hotaru snickered mischievously, "Kind of a shit clown if you ask me."

"What'd you say you little orange turd?!" Chihaya growled at the arsonist, glaring at her viciously.

"Everyone please!" Chris shouted, trying to keep the peace, "This is exactly what the bear wants! We mustn't fall folly to his whims, we need to get together and think about this calmly."

"Says the guy waving around a sword like a sex toy," Itsuki clicked his tongue, "I don't really care if you hippies want to throw a stupid party, go ahead and get yourselves fucking killed."

"I can help…" Jun raised her hand, "I can assist….with decorations, I suppose."

"You're taking this rather well, Jun," Gabe sweatdropped, "But if this will help our families, then I will help as clean up crew."

"Anyone else?" Genki asked, observing the others' nervous movements.

"I don't mind helping with cooking," Asahi anxiously offered, trembling in his shoes, "Would anyone like to assist me?"

"I'm still a bit unsure of this…" Shion mulled it over, "But I don't mind helping you out Asahi."

"This is fucking ridiculous," Chihaya rolled her eyes, "I'm going back to my tent, later losers."

"Count me out as well," Shannon said, clearly upset with the idea of a party, "I'd much search for a way out than plan a party."

"I don't like parties," Norio bluntly said, crossing his arms sternly, "But I can act as security."

"I see we have most everything sorted out," the risk analyst said, "If any of you have any questions, feel free to ask, my tent door is always open."

Genki and a few of the others who volunteered all went back to their tents, while a select few others, went off in their own separate directions.

"While that is happening, I will make my own counter plan," Galiana announced, leaving the main square as Chris and Shiho followed behind her.

"I should go back to my tent as well…" Aki remarked nervously, "Take care everyone…"

"Everyone is leaving again!" Banri shouted, hopping over back to his tent, "I'm going to have another pillow party!"

"Might as well test out those new fire sparklers again," Hotaru mischievously thought, walking back to her tent.

Soon everyone else left one after the other. Daiko, Norio and Hibiki didn't really say much as they went back to their respective tents, Tsukae sleepily wandered around the carnival aimlessly searching for something and Itsuki and Shannon both went opposite each other as they didn't feel like crossing paths with the other.

The only ones left were myself, my sister, Nashi and Ayano. I turned my attention to the eSports Pro, watching as the life slowly drained from her body. She was like a statue, frozen in place and unable to move her body as she felt the intense pressure resting on her shoulders.

"A-Ayano?" Cherika headed over to her side, "A-Are you alright? D-Do you n-need help?"

My sister did her best to assist her new friend, but didn't get much of a response. After a few minutes had passed, Ayano eventually stood up from her spot and left without saying a word. She didn't acknowledge my sister nor did she even whisper to her. She lost her step father, if what she said was true, and now she's dealing with the grief, so it's understandable she's not stable or chatty.

"Everywhere I go….a dark tragedy befalls everyone….I can never escape the woes of fortune," Nashi mumbled to himself, something even more cryptic and puzzling than before, "A curse has already taken its toll….I fear it might strike again."

The soothsayer frowned, looking in our direction and not saying anything to us as I almost caught a glimpse of his cold grey eyes blinking at me. He left back to his tent as it was just me and my sister, both looking at each other and staring fearfully at the wheel of misfortune.

"W-What do we d-do?" Cherika asked, hugging her body as if death breathed a cold chill down her spine, "K-Kichi?"

I didn't respond back to her. Instead I turned my gaze back to the video that was of a still frame shot of our parents, all battered, bruised and beaten nearly half to death. I should have felt sad and upset like the others, but I didn't feel any of those emotions. Instead what I felt was something more bitter, cruel if anything.

"Nothing…" I simply said, not a hint of panic in my voice, "I don't care what happens to those...monsters."

* * *

 **A/N** : Hello hello hello everyone, I hope you all are doing well, did you miss me? No...okay, time for me to go back into my hovel.

IT'S ALIVE, IT'S ALIVE! This story is not dead, yay, huzzah! \OwO/

I apologize guys for not uploading this story for a while, it was a long arduous process, but in the end I was able to get an upload to you guys as soon as possible, I hope that's alright.

I'm sorry if I went MIA for a month and a half, January was….a long mental ride, if that counts. My life has been a bit up and down lately, my mental health wasn't really helping me and I had a lot of issues in my personal life, specifically regarding my school situation. Long story short, I was pretty upset and furious the past month and my new year started off a bit rocky, so I apologize for that long wait. I've been busy with my IRL life as well as helping my family, so there's that. I have a life, perish the thought XD.

But enough about my sad life story, I present to you all the long awaited intro to chapter one of this passion project of mine. Once again, I'm so sorry for getting this to you late guys, but better late than never, am I right Ow, hehehe. I've been really pent up with emotion and I've been going through a bit of writer's block for a while, and that's why my Hope's Lie story is on hiatus at the moment. I'm currently juggling multiple stories at the moment and planning the third case of that story gave me a mental breakdown with my poor planning and lack of thought, so there's that. So yeah, that's the situation with that one.

These stories aren't dead guys, I'm just very busy and also tired sometimes to actually find time to write, but don't think for one moment that I'm just going to give up on these stories like that. I've invested too much of my free time into these stories to stop in the middle, even then my pride won't let me quit like that, so no worries there. I appreciate you all for reading my story and thank you all so much for sticking with me through this trying and tough process, my young adult life crisis got in the way, so now I'm hoping to get back into the swing of things.

Enough about that, what did you guys think of this chapter? Did you like the motive presented? I tried my best to be original with these motives, so I hope its okay that I came up with this to spice things up. I bet you weren't expecting this kind of motive right off the bat huh XD. It's a little intense I know, but I don't believe in stifling creativity or censorship, so enjoy me ruining your childhood and giving you nightmares :3.

Before I forget, I just wanted to say that I'm currently hosting another SYOC yay. That one will be my fourth story in my saga and I plan to start writing it maybe late of next year, since that will give me a lot of time to finish other stories in the meantime, I hope that's alright. It's called Danganronpa: Remnants Of My Heart and I also encourage early submissions, so if you're interested, feel free to shoot an OC my way X3.

That's all I really have to say, I hope you all have a wonderful day, night, holiday or whatever it is your celebrating and I will see you all in the next update or whenever I decide to post next. I hope you all are doing well and I hope your 2019, hasn't been hectic as mine XD.

Happy reading my fellow readers, authors and otaku alike, I love you all and thank you so much again for all the support. I will see you all next time, bye bye!


	9. Chapter 1: Party Prep Jitters

After that horrific and extremely jaw dropping video that was Monojoker's so called motive, everyone dispersed from the plaza square, all with looks of guilt, sadness and especially fear. Nobody talked to each other as they all went their separate ways, probably frazzled or dubious of the bear's intentions as a whole. It was a hard pill to swallow if anything, then again the signs were right there in front of our faces, almost screaming at us that this was all some kind of hoax.

I knew my gut instinct was right about something fishy going on, but how could I have been so blind as to what was coming. The sickening feeling that we're all hostages in this bear's twisted game made my stomach churn twice fold and if we wanted to survive whatever the bear threw at us, we had to play by his rules or else someone else's relative or friend would get executed next.

My sister and I were the only ones who stayed behind, the two of us trying to process the situation the best we could during our moment of disbelief. While I was still in denial about this entire thing, my sister wasn't handling it any better, shivering and nervously hugging her body as if a ghost had just passed through it or something.

The thought of us being used as bargaining chips in some deadly hostage situation, was an unimaginable danger I'd not accounted for. I could almost feel the current danger lingering over us as if we were immured in some kind of outlandish dreamscape we couldn't wake up from. With the omnipresent threat of us having to kill each other in order to live forced upon us, soon felt like a more real, palpable consequence and the chilling atmosphere loomed over the entire amusement park like a malignant overcast shadow, casting seeds of doubt from above.

"K-Kichi...a-are you okay?" my sister nervously asked me, still a bit shaken from everything that transpired.

"I'm fine sis, I just…. I think this motive is complete nonsense," I told her boldly, the two of us still standing uneasily in the middle of the empty plaza square, "I refuse to believe what I saw….I just can't fathom it."

"Huh? W-Why is that, K-Kichi?" she asked me, clearly unsure of what I meant, "B-But mom and d-dad…"

"Honestly, who cares about them," I bluntly said, completely adamant on my stance towards Monojoker's ultimatum, "Since when did they ever give a crap about our well beings?! All they really cared about was their own selfish greed and desires, if it were the reverse they'd leave us for dead. We're just meal tickets to them anyway."

"Kichi…" she mumbled softly, seeing the stern look on my face and almost scared by what I said, "B-But if they really a-are in d-d-danger…"

"Cherry please, listen to yourself!" I looked at her, almost shocked by her empathetic words, "Did you forget what they did to you? How they pretty much ruined both of our lives growing up? How they neglected you? Treated you like garbage just for your bad luck and clumsiness? How they used me? Don't you remember any of that?"

"I…" she nervously shivered, hugging her elbows anxiously, "Y-You're right….b-but what about the o-others? What a-about their f-f-families?"

I paused for a moment, trying my best to calm myself down before looking at the bigger picture. As much as I despised our parents, I couldn't disregard the fact that everyone else's families' lives were on the line as well. I should have felt bad for talking so insensitively about them, but a part of me knew that they deserved every bit of karma they got coming to them. However, everyone else seemed equally as perturbed by the videos as you'd expect and I don't really blame them for feeling the way they do either. While it was cruel of me to talk about my own family the way I did, it'd be unfair to the others whose families did care for them and just wanted to protect them as much as anyone else would in this given situation.

I was conflicted, I couldn't properly judge the situation at hand without getting even more angry than I already was. Just thinking about those two, just makes me so...vile inside.

"Umm...I'm not sure Cherry," I looked at her with doubt clouding my eyes, "I just c-can't think straight right now."

"Fair e-enough. H-How do you t-t-think the others are h-holding up?" she asked, trembling on her next few words, "Is A-Ayano going to be a-alright?"

That's right, I had almost forgotten what happened just a few moments earlier. When Monojoker announced the first motive and spun the wheel, Ayano was unfortunately chosen as the first victim of the psychotic bear's whimsy. I couldn't imagine what she must have been feeling in that terrifying moment in time, to see one of your family members beaten, tortured and then gunned down like that, it was gruesome no... it was beastly.

The raw look of despair on her face was only emphasized by how quiet everyone else went after witnessing her father getting killed right in front of her eyes. There was nothing we could do to stop it and we were pretty much powerless against the bear, all we could have done was watch it unfold and stared at the screen. It was almost like we were a bunch of spectators observing a bloody massacre of innocent people for some sicko's pleasure and entertainment, it made me sick just thinking about it.

"I think we should probably let her grieve for now," I nervously commented, a bit anxious of how to approach the topic tactfully, "I don't think she'd be too chatty right about now and seeing us would only make things worse for wear, I'd imagine."

"T-That makes s-s-sense.." she nodded her head, coming to the same conclusion as I did, "But w-what the b-bear said...if we d-don't kill each other...w-we…." she trailed off.

My sister was frantically beside herself, paranoid and too frazzled for words. Her anxious body language indicated she was about to have another panic attack from the looks of it. I hated seeing her so distressed and not being able to assuage her fears, was a punch to the gut in my opinion as an older brother. I didn't really know what to say honestly, do I tell the truth and make her more worried? Or do I lie and pretend like it's all just one big joke gone too far? I didn't know what do or say

However, I needed to keep a strong face during times like this, because if I started to panic, then so would she. In a moment of pure empathy, I wrapped my arms around her body and proceeded to hug her, hoping to relax her concerns as she stopped shaking immediately.

"I know it's not much, but a hug never hurt anybody," I chuckled sheepishly, trying to convince myself of that as well, "No matter what happens, I'm right here for you, sis. As long as we stick together, everything is going to be fine."

"K-Kichi…" she felt my warm embrace touch hers, "T-Thank you….you're r-right, everything is g-going to be o-okay..."

She hugged me back, her arms wrapped around my body as I rubbed her back slowly, hoping to cheer her up the best I could. I'd never seen her so scared and frightened like that before, as an older brother, I felt I should have been doing more to help allay her worries, but truthfully I was just as scared as she was.

The possibility of someone in this forgotten carnival killing someone else or the idea of someone else's family member getting murdered in cold blood left a sour taste in my mouth that almost made me physically ill. What kind of psycho would watch people suffer for their own amusement? Who even gets off to this kind of stuff and why go through all this trouble? Whoever was in charge of this carnival, was a truly twisted piece of work that was beyond help.

The silver lining in all of this was that least we all knew it wasn't 's doing, at least I hoped so. Hopefully he's caught wind of our disappearances and is sending help right away, I just hope whoever they are, they're able to get here in time before something bad happens.

"Alright then, that's enough of that," I let go of her, perusing around the dusty carnival and taking in the awkward silence of the moment, "Did you want to check anything out? Is there something you'd like to do in the meantime, Cherry?"

"Is t-there really a-anything to d-d-do here?" she wondered, observing the carnival for herself with a confused look on her face, "I m-mean...the r-rides aren't working and M-Monojoker didn't even g-give us any set s-schedule. W-What are we supposed to d-do exactly for the r-rest of the d-day?"

"True…" I mused over it briefly, taking in the sudden realization that we weren't given anything specific to do from the bear, aside from "killing" each other, "While I do still have my doubts about the validity of this 'killing game', I think it's for the best if we distract ourselves with something else for the time being. Like say, planning the party that Genki is organizing right now?"

"Y-You want to h-help with t-the party p-planning?" Cherry looked at me, perplexed by my sudden interest in his plan, "B-But why?"

"Why not?" I replied, shrugging my shoulders indifferently, "Even though we witnessed someone getting killed right in front of us, who's to even say if Monojoker is bluffing or not?"

"T-That..is also t-true.." she fidgeted nervously, tugging at her cardigan sleeves, "W-What about the o-others?"

"I'm sure most of them are handling the situation in their own ways," I said, trying my best to reassure her, "Let's not worry about that for now though and see what we can do to help in the meantime."

"A-Alright…I'm c-cool with t-that," she meekly nodded her head, "S-Should we l-let Genki know?"

"Might as well," I thought it over for a second, "Hopefully there's at least something we can do, maybe even help clean up the water park or assist in making the food, perhaps?"

"I'm f-fine with t-that…" she sighed tiredly, covering her mouth, "Let's go…"

With that all said and done, my sister and I walked away from the empty, desolate plaza and made our way back to the tents area. The dimly bright morning sun above head couldn't have been anymore more unsettling, given what happened a few minutes prior. Once a warm welcome, now turned into something dark and sinister because of the huge decisions we had to make. It was like some creepy, meta reality TV show, either kill to survive or watch another loved one get violently slaughtered like a bleeding, stout animal. If this was all one giant prank, then they sure went all out with keeping up the act.

"A-Are you s-sure you're alright, K-Kichi?" my sister asked me once more as we walked to Genki's tent, "Y-You look a b-bit tense…"

"Huh? Oh y-yeah I am…" I anxiously responded, giving her a weak smile, "Just thinking on a lot of things right now, there's nothing for you t-to be concerned w-with, sis."

"Kichi..y-you're lips are t-twitching as you s-s-smile.." she called me out on my obvious bluff, "P-Please...j-just be honest with m-me…I c-can take it."

If there was one thing my sister knew about me all too well, was if I was lying or not. While I didn't like to boast about it, I sometimes tried to always speak the truth, even if it hurt the other people involved. I wouldn't consider myself a totally honest person, but I wasn't all that comfortable with lying or giving others false hope in something I didn't have faith in. It was a haunting reminder of the person I used to be, always trusting others to do the right thing and lying on their behalf, when they'd repeat the same offence over and over again. It was almost like a clock that kept repeating the same grating chime without cessation.

Due to my immense amount of good luck, most people believed me most of the time and thus the people I thought I knew as friends, eventually ditched me for better ones, as if I were a broken toy being exchanged for a new, better version. While it may sound like I'm complaining and being somewhat edgy, it's the reason why I've become so cynical to the idea of befriending strangers so easily. You never know which one was going to jab their knife into your back and wring it tightly inside until you were left, bleeding on the floor and crying for help, only for them to laugh at you in your broken state.

"I'm s-sorry sis…" I scratched my cheek, blushing embarrassedly, "I'm just a l-little tense is all...I was hoping this party would at least provide some level of stability, is all. I'm just h-having some second thoughts about it."

"If y-you say s-so.." she conceded from pressing further, "Still, despite e-everything...I am a-actually looking f-forward to the p-party...even t-though I c-can't swim properly…"

"Oh crap, that's right! I'd totally forgotten about that," slapping my palm into my face, "I'm so dumb, it's a pool party...maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all."

"Y-You're so w-wishy washy, bro," she giggled, smiling at me amusedly, "I'm n-not going to g-go into the w-water anyway, silly."

"O-Oh...r-right," I chuckled nervously, having even more last minute second thoughts and doubting all my decisions, "My bad, sorry sis."

Feeling the awkwardness slowly creep up onto me, my sister and I arrived to the risk analyst's tent, standing by the entrance like a bunch of scared children afraid of getting lectured by their parents. The thought of the pool party went over my head, since most of us were all taken aback by the motive and all the drama. While I could teach my sister to swim, she's always been so apprehensive when it came to the being around large pools of water, mostly due to her bad luck or my fear of either of us drowning. I dreaded that something bad might happen to her, but since we were already halfway to Genki's tent, we might as well make the most out of a bad situation and persevere. However before any of us could act, the tent flap opened up and out someone came from inside his tent.

"There you two are," a voice sternly said, almost glad to see us, "I was about to call for your assistance, what serendipitous timing."

We both turned our attention to the tent, only to see the risk analyst himself standing near the entrance and watching us with a placid expression on his face. His stern green eyes stared back at us coldly, my sister and I noticing his rather professional tone of voice and his calm and composed demeanor.

"Assistance? What for, Genki?" I'd asked him, my eyes widened at the sight of his sudden presence, "For the party, I assume?"

"Exactly, please come inside," he instructed us, heading back inside his tent nonchalantly, "We have much to discuss."

"S-Should we?" my sister asked, anxiously curious about what he had planned.

"Might as well humor him," I sighed, opening the tent flap and heading inside, letting my sister in first.

Genki's tent was the same as the first time we saw it. It looked just like any office workspace, except for that suspicious looking conspiracy board he still kept out in the open unashamedly. The rest of our pictures were the same, bar for a few additional words written in red marker, but it was too tiny to make out from where I was standing. The risk analyst was at his workstation, writing something down on his table and looking pretty preoccupied at the moment, given his rather feverish body language.

"Hey Genki?" I called out to him, trying to get his attention, "Did you need us for something?"

"Ah right, thank you for reminding me, Ekichirou," he said in a very monotone, yet tired voice, "It seems that I've pretty much settled on most of the roles of who's going to be organizing what at the party, but I've come across a few exigent hindrances while planning the last few details."

"Y-You did mention t-that.." Cherika nodded her head, confused by his grandiloquent words, "B-But what d-do you w-want us to d-do?"

"Well to ensure that everything goes as scheduled, I've taken the liberty to pre-assign roles for all of you," he detailed, writing something down on his desk, then turning back to us holding a clipboard in his hand, "It's good to be prepared for things like this."

"I thought we got to choose our roles?" I inquired, unsure of what he was doing, "So you're giving us a specific duty?"

"Well of course I am! You see the more we give others preferential treatment, the more likely they are to not take any of the more responsible roles such as food preparations or cleaning," he stated, "Considering half of the names on this board, unless the others decide to join in, we can't afford to be picky with the help."

He did make a valid point, I won't argue with him there. Still, it was a little mystifying how he was handling all of this by himself, given that he just proposed this plan a few minutes ago. He didn't really strike me as someone who'd organize a fun party like this, but at the same time we knew little to nothing about each other and he seemed to be handling things pretty well, given that his talent requires him to be on the ball with uncertain variables. He was almost like the de facto leader of the group in that sense, except he was more aloof in that regard, only speaking up when needed. I guess he was more assertive than I gave him credit for originally.

"So what do you suggest we do then?" I wondered, curious as to our roles, "I'm not sure how much help we'll be, but we'll do our best."

"Y-Yeah.." my sister played with her sleeves nervously, "A-As long as it's nothing t-t-too dangerous.."

"In that case, how about assisting with decorations?" he tapped his pencil on the brown clipboard he was writing on, "Shion, Asahi and Shannon are set for cooking duty and food preparations. Christopher, Gabriel, Galiana and Shiho have agreed to be apart of the cleaning and maintenance committee. Norio is in charge of security in the event something goes wrong. Itsuki is in charge of medical care. Hibiki and Tsukae both agreed to help with organizing swim suits and other essentials, hmmm who else..."

"Oh my...that's quite the list," I said, raising both eyebrows in surprise, "So we'll be handling decorations, is there anything else we need to know?"

"Well you'll not be alone, Aki, Jun and Banri will both be accompanying you two in that department," he elaborated, writing a few more notes down on the board, "I've yet to hear from the others, but I've also taken the liberty to give them appurtenant roles as well, if they so wish to join us."

I suppose that made sense. I mean half of us weren't too eager to be helping out with this party in the first place and some of us were a bit riled up or anxious from earlier. I assumed the ones who opted out of the party, were either disinterested or didn't really care much for it. Aside from Ayano of course, she's probably still grieving her loss right about now, if that video was to be believed. I'm not sure about the others, but I guess they have their own reasons too.

"Do you want us to notify the others about this, like Daiko or Chihaya?" I asked him, feeling satisfied with my role.

"That won't be necessary, I've already taken the exact measures and have acted upon them immediately, despite not needing their extraneous help," he said calmly, not an inch of sweat on his forehead as he said that, "That will be all, you two will find the decorations in the storage tent."

"S-Storage tent?" Cherry remarked curiously, "T-There's one here, I didn't s-s-see one when w-we explored the c-carnival ground."

"Gabriel came across it when cleaning the other day," he explained, resting his stuff on the slightly cluttered desk, "If you two will excuse me, I have more work to attend to."

With our tasks in hand, the risk analyst began organizing some last minute changes to the party planner on his desk, while my sister and I left his tent. I was still a bit wary of Genki and his picture board, but funnily enough, he's surprisingly easy to talk to and he's very mature for his age, if he even was the same age as us. I almost felt like I was talking to an adult and not someone who was a high schooler like my sister and I, it felt a bit odd so to speak.

"W-Where do you t-think the t-tent is, K-Kichi?" Cherry asked, wondering the same thing as I was, "G-Genki didn't t-tell us w-where..it w-was.."

"Oh shoot, you're right I forgot to ask him about that, oh well," I scratched the back of my neck, "Might as well wander around and find it ourselves."

"W-Why don't w-we just go back and a-ask Genki?" she said, suggesting an obvious solution to that dilemma.

"Nah, let's leave him be for now, the guy's got a lot on his plate as is," I shook my head, debating the idea in my head, "Besides, Aki, Jun and Banri are on decoration duty as well, maybe one of them can help us find it, when we meet them."

"A-Alright," she meekly agreed, twirling her hair nervously around, "T-That makes s-sense."

With our minds made up, my sister and I walked around the carnival grounds, hoping to find where the storage tent was or come across the others on the decorations committee. We passed by some of the others wandering around the carnival grounds, doing their own thing or helping out with the party in one way shape or the other.

We spotted Hibiki running in and out of Tsukae's tent as he accidentally bumped into Jun on the way to his tent. The digital artist was unaware that he had bumped into her, so the jpop idol grumpily kicked at her shins like an annoyed toddler before sprinting off and making a mad dash for his tent. It seemed Jun was too late to notice anything as she just stood there, drawing something in her sketchpad and daydreaming lazily. Since she was on the decorations team, we figured we might as well ask her while for directions while she's still around and available.

"Yo Jun," I called out to her, hoping she'd hear me, "Whatcha doing there?"

"Oh...hello," she turned her head slightly, closing up her sketchbook and looking down at us, "Just drawing…nothing special."

My sister and I approached the digital artist, forgetting how tall she was for a moment as our faces aligned with her stomach when we made eye contact. It was an awkward moment, not to mention having to angle our heads to meet hers was a bit painful on the neck, but we made due. We didn't want to come off as rude, so we bared with it and looked up at the sky as the sunlight seeped into our eyes.

"Do you know where the storage tent is?" I looked up at her, noticing her rather baggy eyes and unkempt lavender hair swished around her body, "Genki assigned us to help you and the others with decorating for the party, can you direct us to it?"

"Ah right…." she sleepily blinked, yawning briefly, "I kinda forgot about that…"

"H-How can you f-forget that?" Cherry asked, sweating nervously.

"Once I saw the sunrise….I got lost in the moment," she sleepily remarked, almost entranced by the landscape surrounding the carnival, "I don't remember much….something about a brown tent, I think..."

"I see…" I nervously sweated, but still thankful for the bit of help, "What are you drawing exactly?"

"A banner…" she simply said, fixing her glasses back onto the bridge of her nose, "For the party….not done yet."

"Oh o-okay.." Cherry said in surprise, kind of dejected she didn't get to see the sketch for herself, "T-That's fine...t-take your time, J-Jun."

The digital artist didn't hear that last comment, continuing to draw whatever sketch it was she was drawing and ignored us as if we were invisible to her. She almost looked lost in her work, as if she were imagining herself painting the clouds with simple pencil strokes across her white canvas. She was almost mesmerized by the sun and trees around us, almost hypnotized at that.

"Alright then...later Jun," I waved to her, one she failed to notice due to being lost in her art, "Good luck with your banner."

My sister and I left the digital artist to her devices as we went around looking for some kind of brown tent. While she didn't seem all that bad, Jun was kind of lazy if not a little forgetful to not have remembered what the tent looked like. I guess she was trying to distract herself from what she'd witnessed earlier, I can't say I blame her, I'd probably do the same if I were in her shoes, except I'm not as artistically gifted unlike my sister.

We spent a few minutes looking for a specific brown tent, before coming across one that seemed to match the one Jun had described to us. It was a smaller sized tent, probably like the room tents but not as big, it was colored brown like she had mentioned and there were white squiggly lines embellished on the pattern that made it look aesthetically pleasing to the carnival's thematic touch. The sign above was bright and gaudy, with yellows, greens and bright red lights blinking like a shady nighttime bar neon sign in the midday light. It was a very confusing choice in color design, but I had no overall issues with it.

"This looks like the right spot," I squinted at the sign, avoiding its incandescent lurid lights, "Let's go inside sis."

"A-Alright…" she nodded meekly, walking close behind me.

I approached the tent entrance, leaving it open as my sister and I entered inside. We noticed that it was similar to other storage closets, but considering the setting of the carnival, it almost seemed like it hadn't been touched in years from the looks of it. If anything, this tent felt as if no one had used it in decades.

Inside the storage tent, the walls and interior were a bland plain brown background with about three or four semi large metal shelves with lots of miscellaneous stuff on each shelf. To the far left of the storage tent, there was a bunch of cleaning tools, the kinds you'd see in any janitor's closet such as old stiff brooms, dried up mops, floor brushes, dirty dustpans covered in sand, some colorful mop buckets with rainbow blobs on the sides as well as feather dusters all covered in cobwebs and spider eggs. It looked like any typical cleaning section you'd see in a supermarket, besides the dust and spiderwebs of course.

The shelf adjacent to that one had all the cleaning chemicals and other home appliances. There were large white bottles of bleach with blue scratched off labels, a variety of unused window cleaners with colorful muddy liquids, some floral scented floor cleaners with a sickly sweet smell that almost made me vomit, a bunch of green and orange liquid dish soaps with dried up bubbles and lime stains underneath each one, a few bottles of bug spray, some bottles of rat poison and finally some disinfectant wipes and sprays all lined up neatly against each other with some dust floating in the air. It made sense for these chemicals to be next to the janitorial shelves.

The third shelf had a bunch of grey and black overalls, with a few pairs of black rubber boots all lined up neatly against each other. There were a few yellow and blue cleaning gloves with plastic goggles on the sides. The last few things on the shelf were a few first aid kits as well as lots and lots of freshly unused white and pink toilet paper and large rolls of plain grey tissue paper used to clean up tables and such.

On the fourth and final shelf, there was a bunch of boxes and plastic containers with white tape labels on the front sides of each one, all labelled 'Party Supplies' and 'Party Essentials'. There were a few boxes containing colorful table cloths, plastic paper plates, plastic solo cups, fuzzy multi colored streamers, old rotten birthday candles with black burn marks and green moss, a large plastic package filled with about a hundred multicolored balloons, a few metal air pumps, some unused gift wrapping paper, a bunch of party poppers and blowers as well as sparkly confetti and a bunch of plain white banners all rolled up next to each other.

"Bingo!" I fist pumped the air, "Time to get this stuff to the waterpark! Let's go sis."

"O-Okay...I'll carry t-the lighter c-containers…" she mumbled nervously approaching the lower shelves with the party bins underneath the boxes.

"Be careful, Cherry," I warned her, keeping the shelves steady as I grabbed one of the boxes off the shelf, "Don't hit your head on the metal, okay."

"I k-know, K-Kichi.." she rolled her eyes while sighing, holding one of the smaller containers in her arms, "Just w-watch behind y-you…"

I heaved about two of the boxes from the top shelf on top of each other, carrying them the best I could as they slightly obscured my vision. I was able to see my outer peripherals, but I couldn't see directly in front of me, so I hoped for the best and proceeded to head out of the tent as smoothly as possible.

"Coming in!" a voice hollered from outside the tent, sounding eager in tone, "Make way people!"

"H-Huh..Oof!" I heard something fall to the ground as I dropped the boxes I was holding to the floor and saw what happened.

"W-What's going on? Cherry?!" I had noticed my sister on the floor, the container of party decorations had fallen out of her hands with a few decorates spilled and broken on the floor, rubbing her head softly, "A-Are you alright?"

"Y-Yeah...I j-just hit my h-head is all.." she winced in pain, shakily rubbing her forehead, "It's my f-fault…"

"Watch where you're going, moron!" a callous but male voice barked at us, "You almost made me trip and twist my ankle."

I then noticed someone else who was on the floor as well. I helped my sister up as she stood behind me, sheepishly afraid of the person's voice while also shivering and rubbing her head delicately. The person who bumped into her was extremely peeved as I was, their messy dark blue long hair covered their eyes and grumpily muttered something under their breath, almost as if they were cursing at us.

"Itsuki, is that you? What are you doing in here?" I asked the EMT, mumbling to himself as he rubbed his forehead revealing his dark brown eyes with bags underneath and a minor scar on his forehead.

"What does it look like I'm fucking doing, goody two shoes," he snapped back, a small reddish bump appearing on his forehead, "That shrimp haired know it all asked me to get some first aid kits from the storage tent, because he assigned me to be the fucking medic for his stupid little party."

"U-Umm..a-aren't you an EMT t-though?" Cherika pointed out anxiously, still shaken from colliding heads with him, "I'm s-sorry for b-bumping into y-you."

"Oh gee thanks for the update, captain obvious," he furrowed his eyes at my sister, "It's as if that was my ultimate talent, I am so mind blown!" he sarcastically snapped back, "And apology not accepted."

"Hey! There's no reason to be a pig about it," I reproached him, offering him my hand, "Here, let me help you up, Itsuki."

"I didn't ask for your help, lucky charms," he slapped my hand away, getting up on his own and dusting off his blue jacket, "I don't want to hear you lecture me either."

Well he's certainly in a good mood, isn't he. Since we're all here, I might as well get to know each and everyone here as we go along. If we're to cooperate with each other and fight back against Monojoker, then getting to know our new neighbors was the key to success.

I mean we got to start somewhere. He might be a bit crabby, but it's too early for us to judge him right off the bat for a small transgression.

* * *

 **Should we make small talk with Itsuki?**

 **[Yes, might as well apologize too]** / No, his attitude stinks

* * *

I looked at the disgruntled EMT, seeing him grab one of the first aid kits off the shelf hurriedly while I grabbed the boxes from the floor, leaving some of the broken party ornaments on the floor and helping my sister with her boxes.

"Are you heading to where the party is being held?" I asked him, trying to assuage his anger, "To make last minute preparations with others?"

"Duh, isn't that obvious," he scowled, heading out of the storage tent as my sister and I made chase after him, "You two ask some dumb questions, you know that."

"Come on, let's follow him sis," I gestured to her, helping pack the fallen items into the boxes.

"A-Alright…" she nodded, fixing the box of decorations and following close behind me as fast as she could.

As we made our way to the waterpark, we were able to catch up with Itsuki, hoping to get to know him a little better, despite his irascible attitude. Even if he wasn't really all that approachable, it's in our best interests if we're to work together to get to know the others, especially with people like him. It may sound like a fruitless task, but there's no harm in trying, I suppose.

 **Ekichirou** : So….what are your interests, Itsuki?

 **Cherika** : D-Do you h-have any h-hobbies? W-We're just c-c-curious.

 **Itsuki** : I'm sorry, I've seemed to miss the part where I asked you two to start talking to me like we're in some shitty dating sim. So make like a bunch of rodents and scurry off to whatever hovel you came from.

 **Ekichirou** : Hey, chill out dude, I'm only trying to make polite conversation, there's no need to be so aggressive towards us.

 **Itsuk** i: Whatever, if it'll get you two to stop fucking breathing down my neck, then fine, have it your way. But don't laugh, or else I'll leave.

 **Cherika** : T-That was e-easy…

 **Ekichirou** : Alright, we won't laugh. So what do you like to do? Have any hobbies outside of working as an EMT?

 **Itsuki** : Well if you're so interested to know so much about me, I like to read books and watch television, specifically animated kids shows. I also like drawing, sketching and art. There, are you happy now?

 **Cherika** : Ooh, m-me too! I g-guess we have do h-have something in c-common. W-What are your f-favorite books or s-shows?

 **Itsuki** : Well my favorite book is Pitcher in the Nye and don't laugh at this next one…because otherwise I'll leave.

 **Ekichirou** : We won't, go ahead tell us.

 **Itsuki** : My Mini Horsie…Friendliness Is Magic. There I fucking said it, are you pleased with yourself, you two?

 **Cherika** : O-Oh...you like that show t-too, that's k-kind of c-c-cute. I used to w-watch it w-when I was y-younger…but I k-kind outgrew it.

 **Itsuki** : Huh? So you're not going to make fun of me or something? Call me a freaking brony or a sissy or some closeted furry?

 **Ekichirou** : Of course not! We would never disrespect your choices or opinions in things you like. I may not watch the show myself, but I've heard nothing but good things about the story writing and character developments online.

 **Itsuki** : Hmph, is that so? Well I find it to be quite amusing if anything. I like the art style as well, even if it's considered too girly for guys like me.

 **Cherika** : I've t-tried drawing some o-original characters f-from the s-show myself, maybe you'd l-like to see them, s-sometime?"

 **Itsuki** : Really? Fine, you got yourself a deal. But I make no promises.

 **Cherika** : O-Okay, I u-understand...

 **Ekichirou** : Haha, that's quite alright with us. You know you're not a bad guy, Itsuki. I appreciate your blunt sense of humor, I find it endearing.

 **Itsuki** : Don't push it, green bean.

 **Ekichirou** : I got you haha, there's no need to get so riled up about it. We'll catch up with you later.

 **Cherika** : B-Bye Itsuki…

 **Itsuki** : Whatever, you two have fun setting up that lame party. I have to make a quick stop at my tent for more supplies, smell you later dorks.

* * *

 **Itsuki Ogasawara's Profile Card: 1/5**

 **Note** : Despite his prickly exterior, the EMT does have some hobbies and interests of his own. He likes reading books and watching TV shows, specifically animated ones like MMH. I guess he's also an art enthusiast as well if he's interested in looking at my Cherry's artwork.

* * *

My sister and I parted ways with the grumpy EMT, continuing on to the waterpark to help the others set up the party. It's strange how well some of us were taking this whole plan in the first place. I assumed that most of us would be against the idea of celebrating unity, when someone just died in front our eyes, if anything it's kind of jarring in a creepy way. I guess some of them are more desensitized to those kinds of things if it didn't phase them as much. Which kind of worried me given the environment we're in and how unpredictable everything felt.

I guess it kind of made sense for someone like Itsuki to not care as much, since he wasn't related to any of us or showed the same level of sympathy towards anyone. I guess we all grieve in our own ways, I suppose. It might also have to do with the fact that he's probably seen worse in his time as a medical transporter, so I can't really be surprised when he doesn't flinch at the sight of gunshots or blood.

"W-We're here...K-Kichi.." Cherry said, pointing over to the waterpark, "L-Look it's A-Aki and B-Banri…"

I stopped thinking for a moment, looking to where she had pointed and noticed the entrance to the waterpark and spotted a few new changes that stood out from before.

The rides were still there, except this time it seemed that all of them were currently functioning as they all were and it almost felt as if they were never really broken or dried up in the first place. The slip and slides and wave pool were all working accordingly, with the sprinklers from the mats splashing onto the rubbery foam surface and the waves crashing against the makeshift sandy beach with a few audible roaring tides. It seemed that the hot tub was still working as well, with tons of steam bubbles bubbling up and raising the temperature of the area, warming up the circle surrounding the other rides. The water kiddie castle seemed to be functioning as well with all sorts of water spouts and splash buckets covering the entire foundation in freshly sanitized water that did a lot of nearby splash effects. Lastly the large slides were still working as well, with them towering over the other water themed attractions like the monster rides they were, almost domineering compared to the others in that sense.

What we also noticed was that there were decorations already set up with a few of them resting in similar party supply boxes nearby the water park's entrance. There were multicolored spiraled and fuzzy pom pom streamers and triangular pennants all strewn across the light poles of the waterpark. There were a bunch of white and blue chairs arranged around the edges of the waterpark for people to laze around in as well as a bunch of blue umbrella tables with fancy fish placemats and even more chairs inside each one. There were a few white long tables all lined up against each other with some decorative aquatic blue and purple tablecloths on each one with some fun cartoonish paper plates, white plastic forks, spoons and knives and a few red plastic cups all resting on top of each other and stacked high.

Lastly there were a few small balloons tied around the waterpark. There were mostly purple, blue or green balloons tied with dark blue string and had white and black fish imprints on the rubbery design to match the theme of the pool party. Aside from that, there didn't seem to be much of anything else that stood out, the party itself was still being prepared, so it's not that impressive, if anything it's as if we're planning a children's birthday or something.

"Oh! Ekichirou, Cherika!" a voice called out to us, extremely loudly at that, "Yay! More friends! FUN TIMES, DAHAHAHA!"

Almost immediately, my sister and I were greeted with the boisterous screaming coming from inside the waterpark, from none other than Banri himself. The mystery talented boy flailed his arms around crazily, his arrogantly ecstatic face covered in glitter confetti and his shirt sleeves were stuck with multi colored spiked pom poms, almost making him look like a walking human Christmas tree. If anything he didn't seem to mind as he frantically ran around the area like a hyperactive child, probably from eating all those coffee beans earlier.

"Oh, hey you two!" Aki appeared from behind one of the slides, "I heard from Genki that you two are here to help us with decorating, thank you so much!"

"It's no problem," I rested the boxes on the side near one of tables, "It's the least we could do given the untimely circumstances, couldn't just sit around and do nothing all day."

"Yeah, despite what happened, I really want this party to go well," she smiled from ear to ear, tying a few balloons to the ends of colorful poles, "If it'll provide us at least a smidgen of comfort, then that's all that matters in the end."

"I h-hope so t-too," Cherry sighed sleepily, resting a box on one of the chairs, "D-Do you n-need help with a-anything else, A-Aki?"

"Yes, thanks for asking, can you blow up some more balloons as well as stack some cups on each of tables please," she asked us, taking off her white lab coat and resting on one of the chairs, "I'm going to hang up the rest of these streamers while I'm at it."

"What can I do!" Banri hopped into the conversation, still covered in glitter and confetti and sneezing out some sparkly dust from his nostrils, "This is so much fun! I love parties, just like the ones from the military base!"

"Hmm…." Aki thought about it, realizing that she was doing more work than he was, "How about you keep watch of the party poppers and confetti for now, Banri."

"Okie dokie!" he chirped exuberantly, jumping over to another table, watching the sparklers and decorations vigilantly and playing around with a few of the party poppers, "Loud sounds! Boom Boom!"

The mystery talented boy, despite being a teenager, acted almost like an infant child, a strangely dressed and eccentric one at that. Out of all the people here, Banri was the one person out of all of them who confused me the most, given his presentation and his mysterious talent. While he was very energetic and eager, he really didn't seem all that suspicious, at least from what I've seen so far. I mean while his behavior and antics are questionable at best, it didn't seem like he genuinely wanted to hurt anyone but more so wanted to play, if anything.

"K-Kichi, I'll s-stack the cups…" Cherry mumbled, heading over to the tables with a few cups in her shaky arms, "C-Can you do the b-balloons?"

"Sure thing sis," I gave her a thumbs up, smiling wholeheartedly, "This will take a while, thank goodness I brought one of the air pumps as well."

"Thanks again, I'll be over here if you need anything, you two," the scientist giggled, carrying another set of streamers in her hands.

I lugged the red metal cylindrical air pump over to one of the tables, opened up the package of balloons and one by one, began filling each one with helium. There were a lot of balloons to be blown up, which meant this was going to be a long process to which I grabbed a nearby chair from one of the tables and sat down on it. I spotted my sister, stacking the paper plates and plastic cups the best she could, fumbling around with a few of them and getting them to align perfectly before some wind blew them off the tables and she had to restart. Not even mother nature can give her a break, poor thing.

The research scientist was busy setting up more pennants and more streamers, cleaning up the tables and setting up more tablecloths on each one, noticing that my sister was having a difficult time by herself. The ever present joy on her face was a warm welcome given the rising tension in the atmosphere. So far we've been held hostage from what that bear said and instead of escaping this place, we're here organizing a party that was meant to bring us together and affirm some kind of pseudo morale. I guess I shouldn't have been worrying too much, I needed to learn to relax and chill out, even if the situations didn't warrant such notions.

I continued blowing up a few more balloons, taking in the surroundings around me and noticed some of the others preparing for the party in their own manner. Shannon and Shion were both running back and forth from their tents to the kitchen area, whilst they were also throwing away a bunch of leftover ingredients that seemed rotten or had served their purpose. The songwriter seemed almost elated to be helping out, and for the first time ever since arriving here, the runner didn't seem all that annoyed or pissed off, if anything she seemed to enjoy it.

I also spotted a large mass of steam coming from the kitchen area, which probably meant that Asahi was busy cooking for the party as well. It was almost weird to see them helping out so fervently like they were, it's kind of nice to see all of us trying to establish some semblance of peace, despite what had happened. Even if the video was real or not, no one could deny that we all tried our best to move past it, while also figuring out what the heck was going on.

Lastly, I noticed Banri watching the confetti and party poppers, seeming even more interested in them than before. He noticed one of the balloons off to the side of the light poles, grabbed one of them from the strings and began inhaling some of the helium, sucking it out as if it were some kind of frozen slurpee drink. I sweated nervously, chuckling at his expense, at least he was making less of a mess this time around.

"I think that's all of them" I remarked tiredly, blowing up the last balloon and tying them to the ends of each pole, "How you holding up sis? Having a bit of trouble?"

"I'm f-fine…" she nervously looked over to me, "J-Just a little s-stacking issue is a-all."

I stood up and went over to her, noticing she had finished stacking all the cups evenly and saw they were positioned at an odd angle. Some of the cups had tears in them and some fell over from the wind blowing in nearby. She dejectedly pouted at this, looking down at her feet and playing with the sleeves of her cardigan, feeling as if she didn't contribute much overall.

"Let me help you," I chuckled, picking up each cup from the floor, "There we go."

"T-Thanks, K-Kichi…" she smiled at me, her lips quivering slightly.

As she rested more paper plates to each table, I finished stacking all of the cups the best I could. I managed to stack them into groups of four with about ten cups to each one, doing my best to keep them steady despite the suddenly turbulent wind that kicked in.

"Oh my goodness, this looks really good, great job you two!" Aki commented ecstatically, hanging up the last streamer, "You have no idea how grateful I am for this, thank you so much for the assistance!"

"Y-You're welcome, Aki…" Cherry blushed nervously, twirling her hair playfully.

"It's the least we could do," I wiped some sweat from my brow, "This looks like a big job for only two people."

"Oh no worries, I don't mind at all," she clasped her hands together, stretching her arms out wide.

I kind of felt bad for her, no offense to Banri, she was pretty much doing all the work herself but still kept a positive outlook on the situation. Meanwhile, Banri seemed more interested in fooling around rather than actually helping out if anything as he sat by the party table and continued fiddling with more of the party poppers.

"Is there anything else you need from us?" I asked her, cracking a few of my fingers, "Do you need help carrying some stuff around?"

"I think we're pretty good for right now, but thanks for asking" she clapped her hands together, "However if I "neon" anymore help, I'll let you two know!"

Oh no….the science puns have started. Why must you do this to us Aki.

"Alright then, let's go, Cherry," I gestured to her, "Let's see if there's anything else we can do to help out."

"Mhm, I h-had so much f-fun with it a-all," she giggled, twirling around her hair some more, "It w-was a bit m-messy, but kind of n-nice.."

I smiled contently, patting her back as we made our way out of the waterpark.

"Oh, before you two go on ahead," Aki interjected, halting us from leaving, "Can you guys um...check up on Ayano for me, please? I'm really worried about her."

When she said those words, the smile on my face turned into a small frown. I was so distracted with the party planning that I'd almost forgotten about her, yikes. I mean given that her father was just brutally gunned down before her eyes, it's no shock to anyone that she wouldn't be helping out with the party, I doubt she even remembers that fact either due to being grief stricken. Honestly if I were her, I'd not want to participate either, given how distraught I'd be and I'd be slightly annoyed by the fact that everyone was taking the situation lightly at that. I think it's only fair that we make sure she was alright and tell her how everything is coming along.

"R-Right now?" I raised an eyebrow, "Is there something wrong, Aki?"

"Not really….I'm just concerned for her," she nervously fidgeted, "She hasn't been the same since…..it scares me just to even remember it," she hugged herself nervously.

"Are y-you sure you d-don't need anything?" Cherry asked, consoling the scientist.

"It's fine, everything is alright," she washed away the frown in favor of a smile, "Besides, Hotaru had agreed to help me light up the sparklers, so everything should be fine."

I almost choked on my own saliva when she had said the arsonist's name. I mean if anything, I was more surprised that she wanted to help out in the first place. I guess the idea of party sparklers enticed her and she wanted a piece of the pie herself. In that case, the party might be explosive, in more ways than one.

"Alright good luck, Aki," I thought it over, not wanting to rain on her parade, "Come on sis, let's go and find Ayano."

"Okay.." she nodded her head, "Later Aki…"

"Bye bye beryllium to you two, later!" she chirped, finishing it off with a scientific pun.

We both left the waterpark, watching Aki clean up some of the leftover confetti that Banri sprinkled haphazardly around the area. The mystery talented boy didn't seem to care all that much while she grabbed a broom and started sweeping the floor.

Not too long after we'd left the waterpark, I noticed Hotaru walking by and carrying a ton of what could be described as highly flammable and dangerous firecrackers and firework like substances inside a wheelbarrow. The arsonist waved to Aki, a small mischievous smile was plastered on her pale face, as she entered the waterpark and snickering to herself slyly. As much as I wanted to tell Aki to be careful, I realized that just being there would only instigate even more conflict with the arsonist and piss her off even more. Instead I chose to walk on ahead, ignoring her presence as my sister and I left for the tent area once more. Hopefully there wouldn't be another explosion or fire….I hope.

We walked all the way back to the tents and I turned around, noticing Cherry trailing slowly behind me. She was nervously twiddling with her fingers as we approached the eSports Pro's tent, almost feeling timid and anxious to step foot inside. I felt an uneasy chill wash over my body as I reached out to try and open up the tent flap, wondering if I should really go through with it or not. With all that's happened, I don't think she'd want to see anyone, but I couldn't help but feel the need to console given what she just witnessed.

"W-What's wrong, K-Kichi?" Cherry asked me, noticing me hesitate, "You n-nervous as w-well?"

"Oh it's n-nothing sis…." I said, my hand hovering shakily over the tent flap, "Just a little anxious is all. I mean, is it really okay for us to just barge in and ask how she's doing out of the blue like this?"

"T-That's a f-fair p-p-point...I mean m-maybe we should l-leave her alone…" she suggested, tugging at her coat sleeves, "I f-feel kind of b-bad though….w-what if she p-pushes us away?"

That was the same thought I had not too long after Ayano had vanished from the group and didn't say anything. The utter despair on her face was unforgettable and was etched into my brain, the way her hands went limp and lifeless, her long brown hair was frazzled and her skin turned ghostly pale as if the life was sucked straight from her body. Would she even want comfort at a time like this? I didn't know how she was handling the situation, but it's better to find out now, before she does something drastic.

"Well we'll never know unless we go inside.." I said, grabbing the tent flap, "Let's go sis."

"Mhm.." she nodded meekly, following me inside the tent.

As my sister and I entered the eSports Pro's tent, we'd noticed a few things that looked a bit different from before we entered her tent the first time. There were potato chip packets scattered all along the floors of the tent, with tiny ants roaming around in a circle around a large bag of cheddar chips. Large bottles of green and red soda were emptied and resting on the floor with tiny sugary drips soaking the black mats with some plastic cups dumped on the floor as well. The last thing I did notice was that her bed was messier than usual and the covers were all crumpled up and lying everywhere next to a bunch of used pieces of paper and there were tiny dusty crumbs of candy sprinkled all over the desks near the computer monitors.

From the looks of everything, it seemed she wasn't too focused on keeping her room tidy given she was still upset from earlier. It was then my sister and I noticed someone at one of the computer monitors, playing a video game on the rectangular screen.

"A-Ayano?" Cherry mumbled out softly, noticing the eSports Pro at the computer and playing an online game, "A-Are you alright?"

Ayano didn't respond back to us, as my sister and I approached her, keeping a safe distance as to not frighten her to our sudden appearance. Her earbuds were lodged inside her ears and it seemed she wasn't able to hear us over the game she playing on her computer. I also spied some cheddar dust sprinkled on the counter next to her computer, alongside a few plastic bottles of an energy drink called "Creature".

Her long chocolate brown hair messily swept across her back and her normally peachy skin tone was nearly a dull pale white complexion. The black bags that formed underneath her eyes must have been from gaming in the dark for too long and her hands were shivering and hovering over the mouse as if she couldn't keep her mind focused on anything else. She was a hot mess in every shape of the word, I felt bad for her that she was cooped up in here the entire time. I guess gaming for her, is some sort of coping mechanism.

"Is s-she alright?" my sister wondered, watching the game she was playing and noticed the specific characters on screen, "Oh s-she's playing Melee…"

"And rather lifelessly at that…" I nervously sweated, noticing that her character Yoshi was missing the opponents and was repeatedly getting pushed off the stage a lot, "Maybe we should leave her be after all…"

Before my sister could respond, Ayano paused the match she was playing, unplugged her earbuds and sighed deeply. She then turned around and that's when she slightly jumped from noticing our sudden presence inside her tent. While she looked quite shaken up, she did her best to keep a straight face the entire time. She stood up from her chair, stretched out her arms and then blinked sleepily, finally acknowledging us.

"Oh...hey you two," she groggily yawned out, looking worse for wear, "What are you doing in my tent?"

"O-Oh uh...we uh.." I stammered anxiously, gulping down my saliva, "We just.."

"We came t-to check up o-on you, Ayano," Cherry stepped in, filling in the blanks for me, "W-We're all w-w-worried about you…"

"I see…" she sleepily sighed, rubbing her eyes tiredly, "Well I'm doing alright, I suppose….just keeping myself busy is all.."

While her words told us that, her body language spoke a different story entirely. Despite trying to keep face, it seemed she was still perturbed by the brutal execution and I don't exactly blame her for that. It seemed she wasn't really in a chatty mood, but the waning smile on her face only faltered with each awkward passing minute. If we're to cheer her up, it's best to use an icebreaker in times like these, even if the situation didn't require it.

* * *

 **Should we stay and comfort Ayano some more?**

 **[Yes, she needs to know we're here for her]** / Maybe not, she seems very upset.

* * *

While it didn't seem right to try and probe information out of Ayano when she's in the middle grieving, I also knew that sitting around and doing nothing would only worsen tensions with her and the others. Even though she might not be in the right frame of mind, we needed to reassure that she had us and that she wasn't alone in this predicament and that she didn't need to hide herself away like a closeted recluse.

"I know we just met and all…" I started off the conversation, "But maybe we should get to know each other a little better…"

"Are you trying to flirt with me, Kichi?" she furrowed her brow, looking unamused with my choice of words, "That's kinda weird for someone to do at a time like this…"

"No no no, that's not what I meant," I shook my head defensively, "We just wanted to hang out with you is all….Cherry agrees too, don't you sis?"

"Y-Yeah…" she looked at me, nervously sweating as well, "If t-that's alright with y-you, of course.."

"Sure...beats doing nothing," she shrugged her shoulders indifferently, "I'm getting tired of playing the same match over and over again."

I could almost sense the pain and agony crying out from her. It was heartbreaking to see her so defeated like this, but we needed to cheer her up.

 **Ekichirou** : So uhm….got any hobbies or interests that you like?

 **Ayano** : Heh, is that really the first thing you ask when getting to know someone? It's kinda lame but dorky, it suits you Kichi.

 **Ekichirou** : O-Oh I see...s-sorry I'm not good with this kind of thing…

 **Ayano** : No worries, dude. I appreciate the effort though.

 **Cherika** : How a-about likes, what's your f-favorite snack? T-That kind of stuff?

 **Ayano** : I don't have many likes, they're honestly kind of lame. My favorite snack is almonds, I like to eat a lot of instant noodles when I'm on the go, that kind of stuff.

 **Ekichirou** : I see, well it's start I guess. Coming back to my original question though, do you have any other hobbies besides gaming?

 **Ayano** : Well, I do like to draw and sketch things, but I'm not as good as most, not as good as Jun by any standard.

 **Cherika** : O-Ooh! You like to d-draw too! Oh my...t-there are so many people w-who like to d-draw here, K-Kichi. I do t-too, Ayano, I go through a lot of s-sketchbooks as well.

 **Ayano** : Is that right, heh! Maybe you could teach me how to draw sometime soon, I can only draw stick figures and square houses.

 **Ekichirou** : That's cool, do you have anything else you like doing to pass the time as well?

 **Ayano** : Yes I do, I love playing board games! Although, it's hard to get anyone to play with me.

 **Cherika** : R-Really? Is it b-because people g-get too impatient overtime or s-something?

 **Ayano** : Nah, I just play dirty from to time, haha! But I do it within the rules, mind you.

 **Ekichirou** : I s-see...well I guess we should be careful next time we ask to play Oligopoly with you, heh.

 **Ayano** : You bet, I always aim to win! If it weren't for games like that, then I might not be where I am today.

 **Cherika** : Hehe...I'd love to p-play with you s-sometime. I love t-that game…

 **Ayano** : Sure thing, Cherry. Hey, thanks you two….for coming all this way to try and cheer me up….I really appreciate it.

 **Ekichirou** : We're happy to help, Ayano. Even though we might not be able to provide much consolation, just having someone to talk to is always for the best.

 **Cherika** : Mhm...

 **Ayano** : Couldn't have said it better myself….thanks you two, I really needed that pep talk.

 **Ekichirou & Cherika**: Glad we could help.

* * *

 **Ayano Akatsuka's Profile Card: 1/5**

 **Note** : We made her feel slightly better, even if it's only a little bit. It seemed Ayano is not only a fan of drawing and sketching like my sister, but she's an avid board game enthusiast also. I assume her love for strategy games also sparked her passion for competitive gaming as well.

* * *

"Oh that reminds me," I remembered, almost forgetting another reason we'd come here, "I'm not sure if you remember this, but Genki's throwing a party later."

"Oh, is he?" she tilted her head, adjusting the straps on her compression gloves, "Oh yeah right, my bad. I was so out of it I must have forgotten."

"That's a-alright…" Cherry patted her new friend's back, "Y-You don't have to h-help out if you d-don't want to….we understand.."

"You know what," she threw her hands up halfway, "Might as well do my part and help out too."

Well that was a sudden change in attitude. She seemed to have bounced back rather quickly, despite looking like a complete mess earlier. I guess she wasn't all that heartbroken about her father's death as I imagined she'd be, I guess others grieve faster than most.

"Are you sure about this, Ayano?" I asked her, slightly cautious, "You just went through quite an ordeal earlier, no one's going to mind if you don't help out."

"Nah, you two are right, I need to stop moping and actually do something," she forced a weak smile, brushing the back of head, "Besides, the others could be right, the video could be fake for all we know, so there's that at least, I have faith in that claim."

The elation in her voice and the sudden shift in tone was concerning, if not a little freaky. Just earlier this morning, she was as limp and soulless as a ragdoll and now all of a sudden she's changed her tune. Maybe I'm just overthinking it again like I always do, I mean the video we witnessed felt so surreal and almost vivid as if we were there ourselves, but she also did have a point. Monojoker has done nothing to prove to us that the videos in question are one hundred percent genuine and he could have just faked a live video for the sake of riling us up. I just couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong here, but I knew not to rain on another's parade, especially at a vulnerable time like this.

"T-That's good to h-hear, Seagull.." my sister smiled happily, blushing sheepishly, "G-Genki assigned roles for u-us...so c-check with him f-first.."

"Thanks, Cherry," she gave her a big thumbs up, stretching her arms out wide, "Well I'm going to head off and get to work, can't just be lazing around and letting the bear win."

"I agree," I nodded my head, feeling as if a weight was lifted off my chest, "I'm glad we were able to help cheer you up, if even a little."

The eSports Pro dusted off her countertop near her computer of the chip dust and started neatening up her room for a few minutes. My sister decided to assist her, by making up her bed, while she was busy cleaning up the trash and spilt drinks on the floor, thank goodness Gabe isn't here to see this, he'd go crazy.

"I appreciate the help, you two," Ayano commented, dusting off her hands and proceeding to head out the tent, "I'm sorry if I worried any of you earlier, I was just overwhelmed is all."

"No problem, Ayano," I reassured her, "We're just glad you're back on your feet."

"Well I'm going to go and see what Genki wants me to do," she walked out of her tent, "Later you two."

With that she left her tent, a small smile on her face as it seemed our job was done for the moment.

"W-What should we d-do now, Kichi?" my sister asked, hugging her body nervously, "Do we w-wander around the c-carnival or s-something?"

"Shoot you're right," I realized it almost immediately, "There's really nothing else for us to do, we finished decorating, so should we go see if the others need our help?"

"I g-guess so.." she shrugged her shoulders.

"In that case, let's go see how the cleanup crew is doing," I suggested, dusting off my clothes, "Let's go sis."

"Right b-behind you, bro," she slicked behind me, the two of us exiting the eSports Pro's tent and back into the afternoon sunlight.

For what seemed like a few minutes, the sky itself told a different story entirely as to what time it was. The once bright and cheery morning sky had transitioned into a bright and cheery mid afternoon hue. I'd not thought we spent as much time talking to the others and decorating for so long that almost half a day has passed, it was mind boggling.

Without much else to do, my sister and I headed back to the waterpark, unsure of what to do for the rest of the day. We could have went back to our tents to pass the time, but knowing the others, we needed to make sure that they were doing okay, not just the select few we talked to. I was so lost in the moment, that I almost forgot we were all being held hostage by a psychotic manic bear with a penchant for killing, a total mood changer if anything.

I just hope the rest of the day stayed as tranquil as this, I didn't want this reprieve to leave us for another second longer.

* * *

 **Meanwhile somewhere unknown….**

I'd spent most of the morning driving around Japan, searching for the location of the missing teenagers and assessing the danger they were in. I wasn't too fixated on the time, but I knew that I spent approximately three or four hours tracking where they were, at this point, I was getting a little obsessive with time, if anything.

According to my intel, they were adjacent to the Chugoku mountains, somewhere in the middle of the Tottori sand dunes, the only known desert in Japan, so I knew I was on the right track. I kept driving down the narrow, empty roads of the desert in my car for a few minutes, doing my best to minimize the time it took to save all of them in one piece.

"I'm sure it's around here somewhere," I thought it over in my head, "The intel has never failed me once before. Should I stop around here and do some manual reconnaissance?"

After mulling it over momentarily, I stopped at the side of the road, parked my car and assessed the situation calmly. I pulled my recorder out from my glove compartment and pressed the record button, hearing the tape roll and bringing it up to my mouth.

"No sign of the hostage sight yet," I mentioned, scoping out the area vigilantly, "There appears to be no sign of life anywhere, save for the town that I passed by shortly for a gas break, it's currently twelve in the afternoon and I've not made much progress since this morning."

I then clicked stop on the recorder, pocketed it inside my jacket as I walked on ahead, leaving my car behind in case I needed a quick exit. While I would normally ask for assistance with this kind of operation, Ichigo made it quite clear to keep this operation on the down low. As oblivious and naive as he was, he sure did know how to handle the press, even if he looked like he was on the end of his tether and needed more help than he was willing to let on.

I kept on walking, before noticing something far off in the distance. I headed back to my car, turned on the engine and proceeded to drive back onto the main road to the location. It was hard to tell due to the bright morning sun, but it almost looked like a walled off section of the desert, probably some kind of sequestered village or probably a cult.

I looked down at the GPS above my dashboard, noticing that the location was not far from here and that I was heading in the right direction. Due to the lack of cars on the road, I stepped harder on the accelerate pedal, zipping off to the walled off community as fast as I could.

"You kids better not be dead by the time I get there," I said out loud, driving to the location in question, "So much for an early retirement, Razan…"

* * *

 **A/N** : Hello Hello Hello everyone and welcome back to another chapter. I hope you all are doing well and it's nice to see you all again after so long. I know this chapter isn't as long as my other ones, but hopefully it evens out the long one I left last time XD.

I'm sorry if updates for this story are getting slower and slower as time goes on. I think my gap year is starting to come to a close and things right now have been slightly busier for me than usual. I'm currently on Easter vacation right now, but that doesn't mean much when I had an entire year off from school, now does it XD.

I'm doing a lot better as of lately, my mental health takes a dive here and there, but overall I'm doing well for myself and I hope you guys are too. Things have been stressful for me and getting chapters out takes a lot longer than it used to, given that motivation tends to run dry when I get bored, but that's how it is. I promise this story isn't going anywhere, I'm just busy and taking monthly uploads is better for my sanity and mental health.

Anyway here's the chapter and I hope you guys liked it, while it may be short, the upcoming one is the same length since I didn't want to pad out the story with unnecessary filler, even though FTE's do just that XD. To the creators of Ayano and Itsuki, I hope you guys liked what I did for them and if you have any questions for me, please let me know and I will fix the issues ASAP.

Also quick reminder, the poll for the chapter one FTE is coming to a close soon and as soon as I finish the next motive for SWBC, I will present the poll for that story's FTE as well. I already have the next two FTE lined up, so I hope that's alright.

Before I forget, I'd like to give a quick shoutout to these stories, currently accepting OC at the moment. Shameless plugs I know, but what can you do.

Danganronpa: Remnants Of My Heart - my fourth SYOC, feel free to submit an OC anytime.

Danganronpa: The Pitiful Plague Called Ignorance - by RioA, she's a really good writer.

Danganronpa: Final Flight - by Shirasaur, they're now starting out, be sure to show them some love.

Fogbound Castaways - by Sharkeye, she's also accepting OC's as well, so be sure to check that one out as well.

With that all said and done, I really hoped you guys enjoyed this chapter, I plan to get the next FTE one out soon as to get those out of the way first. I might do another SWBC chapter, but that one will be the usual motive chapter, so I have some time to make that one as well, I've been putting off making the LR first case for a while, but not anymore. Despair is coming to the carnival soon, my children :3.

That's all I have left to say really. I hope you all have a wonderful day, night, holiday or whatever it is your celebrating and I will see you all in the next upload or whenever I decide to post next.

Happy reading my fellow readers, authors and otaku alike, I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. Bye bye!


	10. Chapter 1: Wild Slippery Hijinks

After visiting the eSports Pro at her tent, my sister and I decided to see if the others were in need of any help on their ends with setting up the pool party. While our only assignment was to help with decorations and setting up the theme for the party, it couldn't hurt to assist the others in their tasks as well, to make the process go by quicker. We were pretty much on a roll when it came to getting to know the other participants of the program so far, and while we're at it, we might as well try our luck again with a few of the others, given the need for some kind levity in this dour situation we've been trapped in.

"How're you holding up, sis?" I asked her, as we made our way back to the waterpark to reconvene with the others, "Are you hungry? Do you need me to get you a snack from the cafeteria or something?"

"N-No thanks, K-Kichi…" she shook her head in response, "I'm f-fine for now….but t-thanks for asking.."

"Alright, but don't hesitate to ask, Cherry," I looked at her worriedly, "We haven't had much to eat since breakfast this morning, so I was just making sure is all."

"Oh K-Kichi...you're too s-sweet," she nervously smiled at me, chuckling at my brotherly concern, "T-There's no n-n-need to be so o-overprotective of me..a-all the t-time."

"I'm sorry sis...call it a force of habit reflex," I scratched my cheek embarrassedly, "I've just been on edge lately with everything that's been going on is all, sorry to pressure you like that."

"It's f-fine...that's s-so like you a-anyways," she rolled her eyes at me, somewhat amused by my attempts to lighten the mood.

We continued chatting back and forth, walking to the waterpark casually before something stopped in us in our tracks. Something appeared out from nowhere, almost like an apparition of sorts, as it jumped in our faces and nearly frightened us to death.

"Agh!" Cherry jumped in place, almost slipping on her feet from the scare, "W-What's t-that!?"

"I d-don't know," I looked at her, scared as well, when I realized who it was soon after, "Oh...it's just you."

"Oh my my my, that's no way to greet your doting, magnanimous host now is it, you two~" an audibly annoying high pitched voice snickered, "I just came to check up on you both is all, how are you two fairing at this lovely carnival fair, hehehe~"

My sister nervously hugged herself, creeped out by the colorful bear's sudden appearance as the tiny animatronic playfully giggled and spun around like a demented ballerina, taking joy in watching us freak out like a bunch of headless chickens. Just when I thought this day couldn't get any worse, in came the bear, the one thing I didn't want to see again ever since he jumped me in the boys bathroom this morning. I furrowed my gaze at him, anxiously gripping my fists tightly before calming myself down and assuaging my sister's nerves by patting her back tenderly.

"What do you want?" I coldly asked the bear, a bit of contempt hidden in my voice, "Don't you have anything better to do than jump scaring people for no reason and laughing at them while they're down?"

"Oh dear look at you, since when did you become so sassy, Kichi baby," the bear chirped, the party hat rested on its messily painted dome, "I kind of like this version of you better! If anything it just means that I'm going to have even more fun watching you break down into tears like the sissy you are, hehehehe," the bear snidely commented, guffawing madly, "However, that's not the reason why I showed up."

"W-What are y-you doing h-here then?" Cherry asked him, shaking anxiously as she blinked her eyes frantically, "W-What's the o-occasion?"

"Oh it's nothing special, I just wanted to see the look of pure despair on you lazy ingrates faces after I presented my splendid motive video!" the bear cackled again like an evil witch, "Did the video trigger you two? Set off a nerve? Did it excite your primal instinct of survival? Come on, give me all the juicy, sizzling details!"

Watching the bear revel in our misery like some tyrannical monarch, only made me more nauseous than I was before. The raw spiteful words that spewed out of the risible bear's mouth made my skin crawl and my hairs stand on pointed ends. A part of me wanted to punt the bear into the next universe and watch him fly to the heavens, but another part of me restrained the urge to act upon that ephemeral desire. I knew aggravating the clearly volatile and potentially hostile bear would only lead to more headache and drama, so I held my ground and faced him head on with just my words to combat his wry threats.

"Are you serious right now," I scowled at the bear, keeping my rational side in check, "I don't see what you hope to gain by inciting us to doubt each other like this, especially to a bunch of random teenagers who have no connection to each other. What's your game, Monojoker?"

"I have absolutely no idea what you mean by that, Kichi dearie~" the bear smugly smiled, feigning ignorance but almost confident with his words, "I think you might be overthinking it a bit too much there, don't wanna have your noggin burst open like a stick of dynamite now, do we?"

"K-Kichi…" Cherry looked at me, sweating at my clearly agitated disposition, "Don't d-do anything y-you will regret l-later…"

"You should listen to your wimpy little sister," the bear snidely remarked, covering his mouth sinisterly, "I wouldn't try anything funny if I were you, unless you plan to murder someone that is, then I say go all out! Create a spectacular bloodbath for all I care, just know to make it intense and interesting for me!"

"I get it!" I snapped fiercely, fed up with his constant taunts, "Is that all you have to say, we have things to prepare, if you hadn't already noticed, so make it quick please."

"Oh dearie me, that's right! Thank you for reminding me you two," Monojoker smiled from ear to ear elfishly, "Please check your Monopads for a swell little surprise, I'd forgotten to mention it earlier, but better late than never in my books!"

Unconvinced of what the bear was babbling about, I heard a small pinging noise coming from my pocket. I pulled out the device, the Monopad, from inside and opened it up to the home screen, where I saw a small bell icon in the top right corner of the screen with a little red circle with the number one in the center of the blurb. I assumed it was some kind of notification or text, so I clicked on it, my sister watched what was on screen with me, as I noticed a little tab marked 'Rules' inside a little text box.

"What does this mean?" I asked curiously, confused by what it meant, "You're giving us a schedule to actually follow while we're here? What's the point and why even bother?"

"Not exactly, my lucky little boyo, these rules are vital for your daily carnival life here at the amusement park!" the bear twirled around some more, pointing to my Monopad in question, "Those rules are a mandatory guideline on how to act while here at my lovely little carnival, so I'd peruse the contents before doing anything stupid if I were you."

With not much choice in the matter, I opened up the 'Rules' tab and it took me to a different window. There was a bright multi colored backdrop of rainbow splats against a hideous shade of what can be described as a greenish puce color with something typed on it. There were words written on a small black backdrop with white lettering, with a big header reading 'Rules' in all caps and in a weirdly dripping typed font.

Ignoring the stylistic choices for a moment, I read through the specific rules the bear suggested everyone follow while we trapped here. They read as followed, almost like a set of instructions from a from a tool manual or something.

* * *

 **Rule 1** : Carnival rejects, you guys, are allowed to roam and explore the carnival to your heart's desire. However, trying to leave through the main gate or any other secret escape route is expressly forbidden and will result in immediate punishment.

 **Rule 2** : Night time runs from 8 PM to 8 AM each day. Sleeping anywhere other than the assigned tent area will result in immediate disciplinary action. The only exception to this rule, is if you are in someone else's tent, then go right ahead and doze away. Always remember to keep your legs crossed and tuck yourself in before that.

 **Rule 3** : Violence of any kind towards me, Monojoker, will be dealt with right there and then on the spot severely, you only get one warning in the form of these rules. To make this rule fair I, Monojoker, vow to not harm or directly interfere with the participants in any way shape or form, especially in murder cases.

 **Rule 4** : A participant who kills another participant whilst here is eligible for "rebirth", but will only be granted that status if they can outsmart the others in an upcoming class trial.

 **Rule 5** : The person who killed another participant is called a 'blackened' and the innocent students are called the 'spotless'. Pretty simple terms, even an idiot would grasp that concept.

 **Rule 6** : If the blackened is able to fool everyone in the class trial, then they alone will be allowed to achieve rebirth status and the remaining spotless students will all face punishment for their incorrect votes.

 **Rule 7** : If the spotless students correctly identify the blackened, then only the blackened will receive punishment and the rest of the students continue living their communal lives at this forgotten carnival.

 **Rule 8** : Once a murder occurs, a short investigation period will occur to which you all have a short allotted amount of time to gather evidence and clues before heading off to the class trial. All living carnival rejects will attend the aforementioned class trial and participation is compulsory, no questions asked!

 **Rule 9** : Participants are allowed to kill a maximum of up to three rejects. Anything more than that, will result in immediate termination, because no one likes a greedy serial killer.

 **Rule 10** : A body discovery announcement will play when three or more rejects discover a corpse for the very first time.

 **Rule 11** : Further rules will be added to the Monopad if needed over the course of the passing carnival days.

* * *

"So these are your rules," I looked up from the device to the bear, who seemed to have passed out from us taking too long to read them individually, "What do you mean by punishment, exactly?"

"Well, hehehehe, let's call it a little trade secret for now, Kichi," the bear whispered schemingly, "I wouldn't want any of you worrying about that minute little detail. In time you'll figure that out sooner or later."

"W-What's a c-class trial? W-What do y-you mean b-by rebirth?" Cherry asked the bear, noting the rules pertaining to killing in particular, "Can y-you explain them, p-please?"

"Like I told your stupid brother, I want you all to be surprised for later!" Monojoker sniggered, putting his paw underneath his chin to scratch it, "As your esteemed host, I think it's only fitting if I leave you guys with some element of suspense. I mean, where's the fun in revealing all my secrets right off the bat?"

"You're not really helping your case either," I rolled my eyes at the bear, getting slightly ticked off, "Will that be all? We have some things to take care of for the upcoming party and we've lost enough time as is."

"Yes yes yes, don't get your lucky briefs in a wad, leprechaun boy," the bear mischievously retorted, "Anyways, I will see you two later, enjoy setting up your futile party, I can't wait to see it crash and burn, hahahahaha!"

With malicious intent spilling out of the bear's paint soaked mouth, he vanished from sight, not a trace left behind. It still piqued me how he was able to disappear so easily without having some kind of hidden passage located somewhere. The more I tried to wrap my brain around the ordeal, the more I was left confused and irritated, which is exactly what he wanted. The unapologetic nonchalance and the snickering started to get on my nerves, as I felt my head throb and I bit my gums, angrily trembling as I wanted to yell at the top of my lungs to express how furious I was at this terrible situation.

"K-K-Kichi….y-you're scaring me…" Cherry anxiously mumbled, her skin turning pale white.

"H-Huh...oh right, sorry Cherry…" I breathed in slowly, "Let's just go to the waterpark, I need to take my mind off of this."

My sister didn't say much in response, only opting for a simple apprehensive nod as we both continued our path to the waterpark. I'd almost forgotten why we were going there in the first place, after meeting Monojoker again and listening to him drone on. I couldn't help but feel so paranoid about the bear's words and what he was trying to do. The more he talked about us killing each other and even going so far as to transcribe rules for us to follow, it was honestly scary at how surreal it all felt. The more and more I lingered on the premise that this was all fake and not some prank gone wrong, made thinking straight an impossible task with all the questions running around in my head.

"W-We're here…." Cherry pointed to the waterpark, with a few of the other residents there as also. It seemed they were taking their roles seriously, well some of them for the most part.

"Wow...the others really are getting into this," I stared in awe, impressed but glad that everyone was getting along with each other decently, "It's almost weird, they're taking this ordeal too lightly for my liking."

"Y-You've noticed it t-too…" she trembled, walking alongside me, "G-Guess I'm n-not going c-crazy then.."

As my sister and I approached the water park, we took note of the people there, observing them casually as they interacted with one another in doing their specific duties.

Genki surprisingly was there giving out tasks, watching everyone and making sure they were doing their assigned task, as he instructed Jun and Aki to hang up a white banner that the digital artist made near the water park's entrance. The banner was decorated beautifully, with a seamless painting of blue and white ocean waves crashing against black rocks with orange starfishes resting on said rocks. There were yellow and red fishes swimming in the painted waters and green seaweed elegantly brushed onto the banner with minute details framed in the design. It almost looked like a professionally made portrait that you'd see in any museum, but that was to be expected from an Ultimate like Jun. Aki was elated to be helping everyone out, as she wiped some sweat from her forehead after helping the digital artist set up the banner and took a few steps down from the ladder she used to get up to the poles.

Shannon helped neaten up the food tables, while Shion and Asahi carried a bunch of trays covered in aluminum foil over to each one. The tea brewer and songwriter had covered all the food with plastic moderately sized covers, while the runner rolled up blue and green napkins in a fish shaped napkin holder alongside a clear round container with plastic white forks, knives and spoons. I guess we didn't have to worry about the food getting cold in that case. I could almost smell the intoxicating aroma waft into my nose as I walked past, it was a delightful sensation to know we would have freshly made food for our party. All three of them seemed content with their work, but soon went back to the outdoor kitchen by the cafeteria, tirelessly running back and forth carrying lots of food trays as it seemed they had their work cut out for them.

I also spotted a few of the others on the maintenance committee doing their jobs as well. Chris and Shiho were testing out the water attractions, making sure they were in working order as the survivalist jumped on the knight's shoulders and climbed up to one of the kiddie castle's ledges and began hanging there like a monkey, while Chris begged her to come down before she hurt herself. She ended up landing on top of him, before flipping around and landing on her feet like a cat, while the tragic knight nervously looked at the small girl with a concerned and fearful expression.

Galiana and Hotaru were both arguing and fighting with each other over something that I couldn't make out from afar. The arsonist seemed impatient as ever as she tried lighting one of her firecrackers, but not before the prosecutor doused it out with some water from one of the nearby attractions. It seemed that only made the arsonist even more mad than she was already, as she stormed off disappointedly, the prosecutor proudly smirking to herself as she confiscated the rest of the fireworks and stored them somewhere out of our line of sight. While she may be a bit weird, at least she was responsible, which helped allay my fears, even a little bit.

Lastly, I noticed Norio standing farthest from the group, resting his back against the pole as he removed the hood over his head, revealing his silvery grey hair that highlighted his stern golden furrowed eyes, watching everyone like a hawk. My sister and I also spied Banri, cheerfully hopping over to the vigilante, watching him from a distance and waiting to pounce on him like a starving lion to an unaware gazelle. It seemed that before he could attack the black clad vigilante, Norio had stepped out of the way, which then lead to Banri slamming face first into one of the metal poles and falling backwards. It didn't seem to phase him that much though, as he clapped his long sleeved hands together and trailed quietly behind the clearly agitated vigilante, who didn't seem amused by the mystery talented boy's unusually ever present enthusiasm and energy. He looked like a babysitter tired of keeping an eye on one of the children who wouldn't stop bugging him, poor guy he's fought criminals before, yet he can't handle being around someone like Banri. It was almost funny in a sense, but I stopped laughing as to avoid him spotting me and giving me another death glare.

"Looks like everyone seems to have everything handled on their ends," I chuckled, sweating at how organized and lively everything was, "I guess we were worried over nothing, heh."

"It's v-very impressive…" Cherry remarked happily, twirling her hair strands, "It's n-nice to s-s-see everyone getting along d-despite what h-happened….w-we're almost like one b-big happy family of s-sorts…"

"Heh, I guess you're right sis," I smiled confidently, looking at the amount of progress made so far.

"Why do I feel like we're forgetting something?" I curiously wondered, scoping out the waterpark, "Is it just me or wasn't there someone else who was supposed to be helping out with the maintenance and cleaning committee?"

"I'm n-not sure…" Cherry leaned against a nearby metal pole, "I t-think s- Wah!"

Before she could finish her sentence, Cherry slipped off the slightly wet pole and tripped backwards and into a nearby trash can. She hit her back against the can's metal frame, causing it to tumble over as the lid slid off and landed somewhere closeby, with some bits and pieces of garbage sprawled onto the dusty carnival grounds.

"Cherry!" I yelped, rushing to her side as I knelt down to her side, "Are you alright?!"

"I t-think so...oww," she winced, rubbing her back softly, "I just s-slipped is a-a-all…I'm f-fine."

I helped her up to her feet, dusting off her back from the sandy ground as she fiddled with her sleeves and nervously looked back at the mess behind her. I then noticed that besides the fallen garbage on the floor, there was something else that also caught my attention. There was someone laying on the ground with some trash scattered on their body and a glum look plastered on their grime soaked face.

"Gabe? Is that you?" I asked, noticing him on the ground with a banana peel on his head and some destroyed decorations and glitter covering the back of his dark blue railwear, "What are you doing?"

"Aww man…" he sulked, getting up from his fallen state as the banana peel slid down the side of his cheek, "Just when I was getting comfortable….why does this always happen to me.."

The garbologist sighed tiredly, picking up the trash can that fell over, dusting off his clothes and removing the excess trash off of his overalls. He tried wiping the grime off of his person as it splashed onto the ground and made a rather audible splat noise. For someone who's a bit of a clean freak, he sure didn't mind the trash odor and grease on his body, almost as if he were used to it, which kind of made sense given his talent.

"Oh...it's y-you two," he turned to us, surprised but not shocked by our sudden presence, "Don't mind m-me, just….lazing around."

"I-Inside a t-t-trash can?" Cherry tilted her head in confusion, unsure of what he was saying, "W-What were y-you doing inside t-there?"

"I don't know..nothing much really," he shrugged his shoulders, sounding apathetic as he said that, "Just a little overwhelmed I suppose…"

"Really? By what exactly?" I asked him, curious also as to what he was talking about.

"Oh..um…" he hesitated to tell me, averting his gaze as he looked down at his feet, "It's nothing...you wouldn't understand…."

"Aren't you s-supposed t-to be h-helping with the c-cleaning?" my sister inquired, tugging at her cardigan sleeves.

"Yeah….I'm just feeling k-kind of meh right now..." he vaguely said, brushing out some trash grime from his messy light green hair, "I feel a b-bit uncomfortable at the moment...it's nothing really..."

I looked at the garbologist, ignoring the rest of the trash that fell off of his person as I started to feel bad for him. Call it a brotherly instinct, but he looked so gloomy and depressed that it just made me want to sit down with him and listen to him vent about his worries and troubles. While he was one of the more laidback and normal people here at the carnival, it felt strange to comment on his trash can loitering habit or probe him further on the topic, so I didn't bother with asking him again. I didn't really know how to approach talking to him, without making him feel wary, but if it worked with Ayano then it might work with him.

* * *

 **Should we hang out and talk with Gabriel?**

 **[Yes, he looks like he needs a friend right now]** / Nah, he smells kind of funky right now.

* * *

He doesn't seem to be much of a conversationalist, but that never stopped anyone before from making small talk. The garbologist finished rearranging the trash can, doing his best to pick up the rest of the trash from the ground, as he wiped some more sweat from his brow. He failed to notice the residue on his hand as it wiped along his face, but he didn't seem to care about it as he looked back at the two of us, almost perturbed, as if he thought we were spying on him or something like a bunch of creepy stalkers.

"Is there s-something on my face?" he asked, wiping his finger over his forehead to check for trash residue.

"No, nothing like that," I shook my head, "My sister and I wanted to know if you need any help with your party duties?"

"Y-Yeah...w-we're done on our side.." Cherry mumbled out, feeling sorry for him, "D-Do you any need help, G-Gabe?"

"You'd really go out of your way for someone like me…" he nervously rubbed his elbow up and down, "I mean, whatever floats your boat I suppose…Genki asked that I make sure the Roaring Ravine was cleaned up so…."

"Oh! You mean that tall water slide, right?" I asked, to which he nodded anxiously to, "We don't mind helping you out with that!"

"It l-looks kind of s-scary…" Cherry noticed how tall the structure was from afar, "But I-I'll do my b-b-best.."

"Are you two sure about this?" he wondered, still unsure if we were genuine about helping him, "I mean, you look like you have better things to do than hang out with someone like me…. someone lower than garbage."

He sure did have an inferiority complex, which made me feel even twice as bad for imposing our help onto him if anything. I couldn't really respond back to his statement without feeling terrible or wanting to reproach him for his depreciative comment, so I just nodded accordingly. He then walked ahead of us, my sister and I followed closely behind him as we tried our best to strike up an icebreaker, since I knew Gabe was not the type to be the conversation starter.

 **Ekichirou** : So...do you have any hobbies or interests of any kind, Gabe?

 **Gabriel** : Where did t-this come from? W-Why do you want to know?

 **Cherika** : W-We're just c-c-curious is all….

 **Ekichirou** : If we're to get to know each other for the remainder of our time here, I think starting off small like this really helps us get to know each better, despite the circumstances.

 **Gabriel** : Oh...I see, w-well then. I'm not really t-that interesting...there's not really much that I like d-doing in my spare time, you'd find it boring either way…

 **Ekichirou** : Hit me with it, we won't judge you.

 **Cherika** : Y-Yeah…

 **Gabriel** : You two are kind of odd...wanting to g-get to know more about someone as lame as me...but like I said, I don't have m-many hobbies. I do like reading books and cleaning things though...

 **Ekichirou** : Heh, you don't say. From what we've seen so far, I'm surprised you haven't polished this place to a mirror's shine yet.

 **Gabriel** : I guess...I don't really like it per se, I'd more so call it a second nature instinct if anything.

 **Cherika** : W-What about your likes, w-what are y-your favorite things?

 **Gabriel** : O-Oh uh...I uh, it's silly really. I like drinking cold beverages….ummm I also like trucks, like pickup trucks or monster trucks and I also like...air fresheners as well...

 **Ekichirou** : Really, huh? I didn't know that, you really do like a lot of stuff related to your talent, don't you Gabe.

 **Gabriel** : I s-suppose so….you probably think it's silly for me to have such strange interests in t-things like that...

 **Cherika** : N-No way, t-those are p-pretty unique, they quite s-suit you actually, Gabe...

 **Gabriel** : You really t-think so….you two are the f-first to say that. No one's ever said anything like that to me before….they've always s-said I was w-weird for liking t-that kind of stuff...

 **Ekichirou** : Well we all have our own opinions on certain things, even our likes as well, yours just so happens to be different than most and there's nothing wrong with liking cleaning or anything related to it. If anything, I should be taking more pointers from you in that case, I wish I had your cleaning and work ethic.

 **Cherika** : Mhm…Y-You've done a really g-great job s-so far...

 **Gabriel** : Oh! I uh….I don't know w-what to say. It means a l-lot to me that you w-wanted to know more about me….I really appreciate it you two, thanks.

* * *

 **Gabriel Mudd's Profile Card: 1/5**

 **Note** : It seems the garbologist doesn't do cleaning just for his job alone, but he also considers it a personal hobby of his. He likes a lot of things related to cleaning products as well as his talent. I wonder why he wants to get rid of it so much, probably best to ask another time.

* * *

After that successful exchange, my sister, Gabe and I went over to the Roaring Ravine ride and arrived at the entrance. The ride itself was impressively tall, even upon further inspection and now that I was up close to it, I got a better idea of what it looked like.

The water slide had a wide brown wooden staircase with a red foam like surface on top of it to avoid moss absorption and to prevent people from slipping on the wood. It was entirely built with large, slightly rotted wooden beams, with a bunch of old white bullhorns attached to the wall columns, and a blue and green lattice patchwork roof above head at the top of the ride with a few plastic sea animals, such as a blue dolphin, purple octopus and red and yellow fishes, on top of the roof. There was a giant logo of the name 'Roaring Ravine' in bright, bold orange and blue colors with a black font and purple swirls around the logo. Lastly there was about three different slides in total, a red, green and yellow one, each one designed so that it looped and spiralled around the slide tower itself and there were a bunch of fake green palm trees scattered around the edges of the base's structure.

"I-It's s-so tall…I f-feel kinda f-faint," Cherry nervously remarked, daunted by the height of the ride, "Is it a-alright if I s-stay down h-here, K-Kichi...I'm having second thoughts…"

"Sure thing sis, you go on ahead and help the others," I nodded, observing her worried stance, "I don't want you to puke like last time."

"T-That was o-one time.." she sighed deeply, "S-Seriously, don't r-remind me again…"

"You coming, Ekichirou?" Gabe asked, already walking on ahead as I turned my attention to him.

"Be there in a sec," I told him, "You go on ahead."

With that, the garbologist climbed up the stairs as I looked back at my sister, who was still awestruck by the gigantic ride as a whole. Not only was she afraid of drowning, but heights were even more frightening to her and often made her queasy. I myself get a little anxious from time to time, but they've never really bothered me that much. Unlike other occasions, the only time she didn't feel upset was when we're on an airplane, strangely enough. However, noting the unsafe structure of the ride, I thought it best that I'd do this alone and let her take it easy for a while.

"I'll be right back sis," I smiled, waving to her as I climbed up the wooden staircase, keeping my hand on the wooden railing, "Be down before you know it!"

"B-Be careful…" she nervously shivered, tugging at the butterfly hairpin in her fringe, "Don't f-fall…."

As I climbed up the stairs of the water slide, I spotted my sister walking up the others, specifically Aki, Shion and surprisingly Ayano. While the former two were not unusual to see, given their tasks, the fact that the eSports Pro was helping decorate and organize the food for the party was a little weird given her recently depressed state of mind. I thought she might be putting on a brave front for the others as to not worry them, but oddly enough, she seemed relaxed around the others and seemed even more energetic once my sister showed up. The girls welcomed my sister's help with open arms, which was very heartwarming to see. It's rare for her to be so comfortable around a bunch of strangers like this, especially when it came to small groups of girls, normally she'd just keep to herself, but seeing her like this felt as if a weight had been lifted off of my shoulders almost, for once I felt like I didn't have to worry or hover over her like some helicopter sibling.

I had finally ascended the large structure, arriving to see Gabe already at work sanitizing the area with some rags and cleaning spray, as I took the time to scan the environment. It reminded me of one of those drop tower themed rides, the ones I used to see on TV ads or online when watching videos. That one ride where they would have you inside a chute and you'd drop down as you slid rapidly through thin tunnels with water gushing out everywhere and it'd almost feel like you were in a raging rapids situation. I'd never been on one before myself, but I imagine it must be some kind of adrenaline rush in that case.

There were about three different human sized water chutes; one red, one green and the other yellow, all lined up in the shape of a triangle with the red and green ones being near the end of the platform and the yellow one in the center of the two chutes. The floor was wooden and had a foam purple overlay on top, with some puddles of water with green moss forming along the side beams and old rotted wood present in some corners. There was an automatic timer of sorts on top of each chute, displaying a countdown of sorts with the number ten on the top, assuming that was the amount of time given before you'd be dropped down into the tubes. They even went as far as to add another slide to the ride, but it was a regular water slide with the words 'Chicken Chute' written in red letters above it, probably for those who had last minute thoughts on going through with the ride and opting for a safer way down.

Aside from the main gimmick of the ride, there were also a few other minute details that I noticed when perusing the ride itself. There was a square rules sign nailed to one of the moist wooden beams, with the faded blue letters smudged by either moss or rust from the metal platings etched into the sign. There was some kind of device, almost like an on and off switch in another corner of the ride, upon further inspection, there were three buttons that operated the rides itself. They were both protected by glass covers with nails screwed into each one but this time they were left open for maintenance and there were three signs; one above each button. The button on the left's sign said 'Water Control' which probably meant you could turn the water on and off if need be, the second one in the middle read 'Stop Timer' probably meant for those who wanted to stop the ride and get out before it was too late and the other one on the far right read 'Danger' in bright red letters.

While I was curious as to what that last button pertained to, I didn't pay it much mind as I noticed someone else walking up the stairs behind me. The clanky and rattling noises of metal coupled with a small set of footprints instantly told me who approached the top of the steps.

"Ooh lookie, it seems that mother nature has blessed us with gracious tidings from the lucky boy himself," a high pitched female voice greeted me, jumping on the platform and splashing against the moss ridden water.

"Greetings, sir Ekichirou," a male's voice, accompanied by clanking metal called out, "What brings you here to this steep waterfall attraction?"

"Oh! Hey there Chris, hi Shiho," I greeted the two as they arrived to the top, "Nothing special, just seeing if you three needed an extra set of hands is all, since I was already finished with my tasks for the party."

"While I appreciate your humble generosity, it's not needed, good sir," the tragic knight chuckled, putting his hand up to interject, "We've finished preparing for the party on our ends, all we need to do is check on this beastly ride before reporting to sir Genki of our findings and we have accomplished all of our duties!"

"It was so much fun, testing out all the rides and making a huge splash in each one!" Shiho chirped, giggling to herself playfully, "Mr. Tincanpanbrain over here has been assisting me in making sure these manmade rides are up to par. Although, I do not approve of using this kind of equipment myself, I'd much rather slide down an actual raging ravine like the ones in the jungle."

"I see...so why are you helping everyone out in that case?" I asked the survivalist, clearly confused by her lack of reasoning for hating manmade things.

"Silly little clover," she snickered, pushing back her pigtails behind her, "You shouldn't question the logic of the universe like that. Just because these slides produce water from manmade turbines, doesn't mean that nature hasn't gifted us humans with her body of water to celebrate our fun filled party! If anything, it's quite exciting! How amazing indeed!"

"T-That's an interesting way to look at it, I suppose…" I sweated, confused by her logic, but conceded anyway, "So what's the plan for this ride exactly?"

"Simple really," Chris jumped into the conversation, "All we have to do- lady Shiho?"

Before the knight could finish his sentence, Shiho boldly skipped ahead of him, knocking Gabe to the side as he spilled some cleaning fluid on the wooden railing nearby and jumped into one of the water slide chutes. I wanted to stop her, but she was too agile for me as she jumped around like a crazed monkey, pressed the button for the water control by the green tube and sat in place as the ride started to count down slowly.

I was amazed by how the ride was still functional, despite having been desolate and inoperable for quite a while. However, what made me even more surprised, was the fact that the water itself gushed rapidly out of the tubes above as an electronic voice of sorts, counted down the timer to the floor collapsing underneath the survivalist. The door to the chute was about to close, but not before Chris jumped in the way of it to try and stop her from falling into the slide prematurely.

"Lady Shiho please! Do not throw caution to the wind so lightly!" he yelled, reaching out his right hand to her as the glass door closed securely, crushing his fingers, "Agh! Owww!" he shouted loudly, wincing from the pain, "Curses be damned!".

"You're so funny, tincanpanbrain!" Shiho giggled, ignoring his concern as the timer above reached zero as the floor beneath her collapsed and water spilled below, "Bye Byeeeeeeeeeeee!"

The survivalist's voice faded into the water slides' chute as Chris' fingers were still wedged into the glass door. While the door itself had trouble closing, it kept on moving back and forth, only pressing against his fingers and cracking his knuckles even more and more, like some kind of medieval torture device.

"Oh crap!" I jumped to my feet, my adrenaline rushing in that brief moment, "Gabe, press the button, now!"

"O-Okay!" he flinched from the sudden shouting, jumping clumsily to his feet as he pressed the water control button to shut off the ride, "T-There…...wow that was s-scary…"

As the glass door opened up slowly, Chris recoiled backwards, his gloved hands slightly crushed and slightly bent. He pulled off his right metal glove with the other hand, revealing noticeable red bruises and some indentations in four of his fingers.

"Oh gosh! Are you alright, Chris?" I asked him, kneeling over to his side as he sat against the wooden beam, "Do you need any help?"

"Oh, tis nothing to fear, sir Ekichirou," he shook his head defiantly, some small tears rolling down the sides of his cheeks, "Wouldn't be the first time this has happened...oww….it stings a little.."

"Dude seriously," Gabe looked at the knight, gathering his cleaning tools, "That looks painful….you should get it c-checked out."

"Tis alright, it will heal in time.." the knight gritted his teeth tightly, "You needn't concern yourselves with me."

"I'm still helping you up regardless," I protested, not falling for his feigned bravado, "Come on Gabe, help me carry him down to the steps."

"A-Alright…" the garbologist nervously nodded, kneeling down to assist the knight.

Despite not wanting the help, we insisted further and eventually the knight yielded and let us help him down the stairs. While it was just his fingers that were crushed, previously he'd injured his arm on the treadmill the other day, which made me think that he was prone to clumsiness if he's said he's used to stuff like that and it didn't phase him as much. I walked down ahead of the two, making sure that the knight didn't slip over and tumble forward as some of the others heard the commotion, as we made it to the bottom of the stairs. They all gathered closeby, taking note of the knight's fingers and all with looks of worry plastered on their faces.

"Oh my goodness, what happened here?" Shion rushed over to the knight's side, "Are you alright, Chris?"

"Yoooo...dude that looks gnarly," Ayano commented, cringing at the sight of the bruises, "What caused that?"

"Fear not everyone, this is but a mere accident," he rubbed his bruised fingers softly, "There's no need to fret!"

"What kind of accident was this?" Shannon inquired, eyeing the injury and frowning doubtfully, "How stupid and reckless do you have to be to get something like that?"

"I'm sure Mr. O'Donnell didn't intentionally do this to himself," Asahi approached the group, taking note of the knight's injury, "Let's not jump to conclusions here, Ms. Akahoshi."

"Ooh! You're fingers look like tiny little sausages!" Hotaru chimed in, a mischievous smile grew on her face, "That looks like it hurt, must have been fun to watch though. I should have went up there myself to witness firsthand."

"Why is that the first thing on your mind?" Gabe remarked, raising a concerned eyebrow at the arsonist, "Actually...n-nevermind."

"So what do we do?" Ayano asked, fiddling with her compression gloves, "Should we apply first aid or something?"

"Itsuki's busy at the moment, but do you want me to get some ice for your fingers, Chris?" Aki asked, feeling sorry for the knight.

"There's no need to be concerned with me everyone," he proudly insisted, despite his intense grunts, "I'm fi- oww.."

"Huh...maybe you should lie down…take a break," Jun suggested, getting a full view of everything from behind the crowd, "That seems to work….most of the time."

"No Jun, all he needs an ice pack for now," Shion responded, cupping his crushed fingers in her hands to inspect them, "We don't know if he's broken any fingers or not, so we need to wait on Itsuki first before bandaging anything."

"That's fair, but where should we wait for him?" I asked, jumping into the conversation, "Last I remember, he's busy looking for first aid supplies inside his tent."

"He can come to the cafeteria and wait there," Asahi said, fiddling with his shirt sleeves, turning to the knight, "You need to sit down and relax, I can make you some tea to alleviate your nerves in the meantime."

"I am thankful for your kind words everyone…" Chris smiled dumbly, "But may I ask, where is lady Shiho?"

I paused for a moment, initially forgetting how Chris sustained the injury, as I looked around for the survivalist. I hope she didn't end up hurting herself in the end or getting injured like he did.

"She's over here!" Norio called out to the group, "If you're looking for her, she's playing in the water…"

I turned to where the vigilante was and noticed the survivalist in question, goofing around in one of the slide chutes and splashing water around the place. Shiho didn't seem to care that Chris injured himself to try and save her, but instead continued happily throwing water everywhere, her clothes soaking wet and her hair matted down on her head and dripping water along sides of her face.

Banri noticed this and jumped into the water as well, splashing it everywhere like a happy go lucky toddler high on sugar. His black boots sloshed around in the water as he and the survivalist chased each other around playfully, ignoring the rest of us as we attended to the knight's injuries. The childlike wonder in their eyes was something to behold, it's almost as if the two of them were blissfully unaware or ignorant of the danger that enveloped the carnival. They simply kept chasing each other around the water park as they tried tagging the other and slipping in the pools of water while in fits of childish laughter.

"At least they seem to be h-having fun….if not poor timing o-on their part," Gabe sweatdropped nervously.

"Are we sure those two aren't secretly middle schoolers or something?" Shannon crossed her arms, perplexed by their innocence, "It might explain a lot actually…"

"Nevermind that," another voice, belonging to Genki inserted himself into the group chat, "Since you three have completed your duties, you can go on ahead and nurse your minor injury, Christopher."

"Bold words coming from the wizard of risks himself!" Galiana smirked, her cape absent from her body, probably to avoid getting it soaked from water, "I will take over any other loose ends for you, my fellow companion!"

"Thank you, lady Galiana…" Chris nodded to her weakly.

"Kukuku, I admire their tenacity and dauntless natures," the prosecutor chuckled at the two's antics, "They'd be the perfect assistants, if I were still practicing law!"

"Well then, we can always work with less variables I suppose…" Genki sighed, walking off with the prosecutor as the two of them went over to the other water slides to double check everything.

"What do we do now?" Jun sleepily asked, "I think…..I'm gonna go...rest in my tent.."

"I think for now, we should get you over to the cafeteria, Chris," I said, directing him to the exit, "Someone should let Itsuki know about this."

"I'm on it, be right back you guys," Ayano offered, leaving the waterpark to the EMT's tent.

"K-Kichi…" Cherika's voice popped up as I turned to where she was, standing far from the group close to the back, "Let me h-help…"

"Oh, sure thing sis," I nodded, watching her walk over to my side.

"You are too kind, lady Cherika," he smiled at her, another dumb grin surfaced on his face, "I am grateful for everyone's assistance, as much as it is a bit much."

With that all settled, everyone dispersed from the group. Shion, Asahi, my sister and I escorted the knight outside the waterpark as we walked over the outdoor cafeteria. It's strange how much stuff we got done in such little time, it was almost baffling how unified some of us were. I guess some of them were trying to put their minds off of the video from earlier, so this party was the perfect excuse for that and honestly, I kind of fell for it as well. I wanted nothing more than to put that horrid video out of my mind for as long as I could.

"S-So...how d-did you h-hurt yourself, C-Chris?" Cherry asked him, anxiously staring at his red, throbbing fingers.

"It's quite embarrassing to recount..." he stumbled on his words, afraid to tell her the real truth, "However you needn't be concerned with it, lady Cherika, I've fended off worse than this in the past!"

"That's no excuse to be so reckless and careless," Shion scolded him, huffing tiredly from all the running back and forth, "We know you're capable Chris, just don't act so rashly like that again, alright?"

"Yes lady Shion…" he defeatedly pouted, shrinking in shame along the way to the cafeteria.

I patted him on the back sympathetically, slowly feeling guilty for not stopping him in time from getting himself injured earlier. I suppose that helping him like this made up for that, but if he's said himself that he's not phased by the injury, then why am I worrying so much? Why am I acting as if it were my fault? I mulled it over as we arrived to the cafeteria, noticing that rest of the other participants there as well, sitting down and idly doing their own thing.

"Wait here, while I prep you some tea in the meantime," Asahi walked ahead to the kitchen, preparing a kettle with some water from the sink.

"I'll go ahead and try to find some ice cubes and a bucket," Shion worriedly remarked, going her separate way as my sister, Chris and I acknowledged her offer.

As we entered the outdoor cafeteria, I noticed that the five people there, noticed us as we entered, all with mixed looks on their faces. Tsukae, Hibiki, Chihaya, Daiko and Nashi were all sitting on separate tables, each one staring at us as we escorted the knight to a nearby empty table and seat.

The charmer and the jpop idol both sat on the same table with a bunch of black bags resting on top of the table, with some clothes sticking out from the top, I assumed they were the swimsuits that Genki mentioned earlier. The clown and the defense attorney were both lazily sitting around, Chihaya looking unimpressed as usual while fidgeting with her hair and Daiko raising an eyebrow at us as he looked on with a placid expression on his face. Nashi on the other hand sat at a different table, quietly mumbling something to himself as if he were in his own world as it were.

"What the fuck happened to your fingers?" the clown questioned the knight, a slightly disgusted look was plastered on her face, "Did you trip and slam them into a fucking brick wall or something, tinman?"

"Lady Chihaya...your concern is appreciated," he gasped, surprised by her sudden empathy, "It's a first from you."

"Oh how cute, you think I give a shit about your stupid well being," she chuckled cynically, brushing back her dyed red hair, "You really are that fucking dumb, aren't you."

"Now now, there's no need to be so catty about it, Chi Chi," Hibiki reproached the clown, a disappointed frown emerged from his face, "Maybe he just got his fingers stuck in somewhere he shouldn't~ Is the goody two shoes in shining armor secretly a rugged bad boy underneath?"

"What a rather weird and inapropos thing to say," Daiko rolled his eyes, unamused by the idol's witty remarks, "He probably got it from a maintenance mishap, I'm assuming."

"You hit the nail on the head there, Daiko," I smirked at his pseudo wry comment, "He got it while inspecting one of the water slides earlier. We're not sure if his fingers are broken or not though."

"Did you check it first?" Tsukae sleepily blinked, adding her two cents to the conversation, "I mean...that would probably be what I'd do...not like I ever had any injury like that before."

"That m-makes sense…." Cherika anxiously looked at the knight's fingers, "A-Are they b-broken, Chris?"

"Haha, no they aren't," he boasted confidently, continuing his brave front, "It's nothing compared to the grand adventures, I've been on!"

"I highly doubt that…" the charmer sleepily remarked, grabbing one of the clothing bags from nearby, "I'm going to go head off to my tent now…"

"As will I," Hibiki said, the two of them rising from their seats, "I need to make one more last minute preparation for my swimsuit as well. I'm going to be turning so many heads, you won't be able to take your eyes off me for a second, darlings," he winked at everyone before leaving.

"How charmingly uncouth…." Daiko mumbled to himself, brushing back his forest green hair.

As the two of them departed, it was just the seven of us left. The clown grumpily rested her head on the table and pretended to sleep, while the attorney kept to himself the entire time, staring aimlessly at the sky above with his hands his pockets, almost bored to death if anything. The soothsayer, on the other hand, hadn't said much ever since we arrived to the cafeteria. I assumed he was in the middle of meditating or reciting some kind prayer to himself, since he hadn't noticed the commotion, but his body language suggested something else entirely different.

It was then that Shion arrived back to the cafeteria, carrying a metal bucket with some ice cubes inside. It seemed rather heavy for her to be lifting all by herself, but she didn't seem to mind as she rested it on the table next to the three of us.

"Sorry for the wait," she humbly apologised, "I had a hard time finding something to carry the ice in."

"Your generous service is not without honor, lady Shion," Chris thanked her, "I am in your debt."

"In the meantime, we've prepared a small dinner for tonight," Shion wiped some sweat from her forehead, yawning as she announced it, "Please, help yourself anytime and if you need any assistance with plating your food, Chris, don't be stranger."

"Thanks, Shion," I gave her a big thumbs up, smiling contently, "You deserve some rest for all the hard work you've done for the party."

"Y-Yeah...the f-food smells really good t-too.." Cherika commented, sniffing the delicious aroma of freshly cooked food, "C-Compliments to the c-chef…"

"Why thank, Ms. Yoshirenku," the tea brewer overheard us talking, "It's a little family secret recipe, I pride myself on my home cooking after all!" he triumphantly huffed, bearing a smile on his face as he fiddled with his red bow tie.

Asahi grabbed the boiling kettle from the stove, poured the hot water into one of the styrofoam cups from nearby and placed a tea bag inside and let it brew for a few minutes, "Your tea is ready, I'd recommend letting it sit for a few minutes before consuming it."

"Thank you, sir Asahi," the knight rested his fingers inside the bucket of ice, "Ahhh….much better…"

As the tea brewer and songwriter continued chatting with each other over dinner, my sister and I were left by ourselves with Chris, who was still nursing his swollen arm since the other night. The look of gratitude on his face said it all, he needed more help than he originally lead us to believe. Due to the awkward silence of the moment, I decided that now would be a good time to get to know him a little better. Aside from his very valiant and knightly persona he exuded, I wanted to get to know more about him, maybe even get to know why he acts the way he does by sharing small talk between the three of us. It's a little weird to be doing this now, but better late than never I suppose.

* * *

 **Should we get to know Christopher?**

 **[Yes, he seems like he has something on his mind]** / No, what would we talk about

* * *

"Are you sure you're okay?" I asked the tragic knight, his hand still drenched and resting inside the ice bucket.

"Verily! I couldn't be better, this is nothing but a mere scratch on my armor," he smiled confidently, baring with the pain, "You two needn't fret over me, I'm perfectly able to fend off this temporary malady!"

"U-Uh…o-okay," Cherika mumbled, bemused by the knight's response, "I s-see..."

Well this just got ten times awkward really fast, might as well strike while the iron is hot, no pun intended.

 **Ekichirou** : So Chris, do you have any hobbies or interests outside of being a knight?

 **Christopher** : Of course I do! I am astonished that you are curious as to my personal leisures. Truly you two are a captivating and inquisitive duo!

 **Cherika** : I g-guess….N-No one's ever said t-that to us before…

 **Christopher** : I'd imagine so, hahaha! But as for my hobbies, I like eating a lot of tough foods like apples or meat as to maintain my figure. I also fancy a relaxing massage from time to time, sometimes while listening to jazz music as to help soothe my nerves.

 **Ekichirou** : Wow, that certainly took me for a loop, never expected to hear that from you, Chris.

 **Christopher** : Well, when one is always out serving his royal majesty, there aren't many opportunities to indulge in such pleasures, aside from the occasional holiday.

 **Cherika** : T-That sounds kind of n-nice….must b-be fun..

 **Ekichirou** : I'll bet. So tell me Chris, what exactly do you do as a knight? Or more so, do you have any hobbies that are related to your talent?

 **Christopher** : Forsooth sir Ekichirou, I do like to partake in the noble art of jousting for her Majesty's honor. I take pride in my skills, despite the constant ailments and frequent wounds…

 **Cherika** : S-Sounds rough…do y-you like to do a-anything else?

 **Christopher** : But of course! I do love exercising, fantasy themed games and most of all crafting swords and shields with my master. He's taught me everything about crafting and metalwork, although I do have a few minor incidents with yon metal hammer and mine fingers…

 **Ekichirou** : Oh, that's cool. I mean it sucks that you get into dangerous situations so often, but it's good to know you enjoy your work.

 **Christopher** : Enjoy it? It is but my duty as a knight to fulfill these simple tasks, sir Ekichirou! A good knight in training must always be prepared and have all the necessary components on hand in cases of emergency.

 **Cherika** : I d-didn't know that….s-sounds like y-you take good care of y-your equipment t-then..

 **Christopher** : O-Oh uh, I sure doth clean them every so often and prevent them from rusting. I always take heed of my master's advice to always be prepared and never falter in anything I do.

 **Ekichirou** : I see you're passionate about it as well. Good for you, Chris, I do have to wonder about your mishaps with luck and such, was it always this bad?

 **Christopher** : Oh uhm...Methinks it's better saved for another morrow, good sir. I'd rather not delve into it further right now.

 **Cherika** : It's a-alright….it's not our business a-anyway…

 **Ekichirou** : Still, I appreciate the small talk Chris. I learned so much today and this was even more interesting, thanks.

 **Christopher** : Consider it payment for aiding me, sir and lady Yoshirenku. I feel humbled in allaying my concerns and entrusting you two with my personal interests. If anything, it is I who should be thanking the two of you.

 **Cherika** : Hehehe….

 **Ekichirou** : No problem dude, anytime.

* * *

 **Christopher O'Donnell's Profile Card: 1/5**

 **Note** : It seems that his passion for fantasy games, working out and knights in general sparked his passion to become the ones he idolized so much. He knows how to craft weapons as he said, but why is he called the Ultimate Tragic Knight and not the Ultimate Knight. I'll have to ask him another time.

* * *

After that conversation, Asahi grabbed the styrofoam cup with tea from the counter and placed it next to the tragic knight. The brew itself was a rich brown color and smelt of something synonymous to cinnamon or lemon, it was a very intoxicating aroma that wafted in the air. Chris grabbed the cup with his left hand, blowing on it slowly as he took a few sips, burning his tongue soon after that, as my sister and I giggled at his little slip up. He seemed displeased, but kept a proud smile as he continued drinking it.

It felt nice to just sit down and casually talk to someone like this. It's been a while since my sister and I have had a civilized conversation with people our age. Getting to know the others here at the carnival was the first step into finding a way out of this place and as for after that, I wasn't too sure. Despite what the rules said, I had hoped that whatever the bear was talking about was nothing but a cruel joke gone too far. Then again, given how adamant and serious he's been and how snide he's acted towards us, I was worried that if we didn't do something soon, then everything will start to worsen with each passing day

"So what's on the menu tonight guys?" I asked Shion and Asahi, hearing my stomach grumble.

"Well it's nothing special, we tried our best with the ingredients we procured," Shion turned to us, fixing the blue clip in her hair, "We've reheated the soups and crumbled some of the funnel cakes and sprinkled them with chocolate from the fountain."

"I see...but at least we have something to eat at least," I sighed tiredly, rubbing my eyes groggily.

"As much as I prefer not to eat carnival food for dinner, I've managed to make something with the resources on hand," Asahi interjected, carrying two bowls of an orange yellowish soup and some chocolate covered funnel cake on the large plate, "I hope you two like pumpkin herbal soup, it's all I could muster up for the time being."

"T-Thank you, A-Asahi and S-Shion," Cherry nervously smiled, grabbing a piece of chocolate funnel cake and nibbling on it slowly.

"You didn't have to serve us like this, but thanks," I nodded my head, surprised by their sudden hospitality.

"It's the least we could do to reward you for helping with the party preparations," the tea brewer smiled, touching the gold chain around his neck, "Think nothing of it, Mr. and Ms. Yoshirenku."

"Still...I hope the food doesn't get cold overnight…" Shion whispered to herself, munching on some leftover dango from earlier this morning, "I wonder if there's a portable microwave somewhere…"

As the two of them cleaned up the kitchen, I grabbed a nearby plastic spoon and took a few sips of the soup, blowing on it as the sweet tangy smell lingered in my nose. I tasted the sample and felt all my taste buds explode with a burst of flavor. The herbs complimented the pumpkin's juicy sweetness and there were no chunks or pumpkin guts floating inside the soup, which only perfected the overall presentation of the soup itself. It was as if I were inside a five star restaurant, everything about it was sublime.

"Oh my goodness, this amazing!" I remarked, taking a few more spoonfuls and gulping them down rapidly.

"Y-Yeah! S-So creamy….it w-warms my tummy," Cherry giggled, her cheeks flushed red from the soup, "It's the perfect t-temperature too…"

"Just make sure not to choke on it, alright sis?" I looked at her, taking too many spoonfuls at once.

"I know…" she half heartedly replied, resting her spoon to the side and eating more funnel cake.

"I see you two are having a grand time," a familiar wispy greeted us, "That is most pleasant indeed."

I rested my spoon to the side, noticing who had called out to us and saw the soothsayer standing closeby. He almost freaked me out, given his rather sudden appearance, since I knew he was sitting on the opposite table not too long ago. His uneven cut purple hair dangled against his back as his pale skin contrasted with the evening sky's hue.

"Oh evening, Nashi," I greeted him, "Yes we are, we had lots of fun today, right sis?"

"Mhm…" she nodded meekly, looking at the soothsayer with an uneasy stare, "A-Are you f-feeling alright, N-Nashi?"

"Hmm? Oh, I'm fine thanks for asking," he softly smiled, his eye cover masking his overall expression, "I've just been fraught with random premonitions lately is all."

"Oh? What are they about?" I asked, intrigued by what he meant, "Is it bad news? Or good news?"

"I can't say, the wheel of fate has already been spun," he mysteriously said in a somber tone, "We cannot change the inevitable, only watch as misfortune plagues us."

And we get even more cryptic riddles thrown our way. I knew Nashi didn't mean any harm, but from the way he presented himself and talked, almost felt as if he knew what was about to come. I mean it's his talent, but something about him just felt, so off to me for some reason.

"What the fuck are you even talking about, you crazy fraud!" Chihaya barked, grumpily woken up from her brief nap, "God you losers fucking talk too much, can you keep your traps shut please."

"Well if you're so bothered by us talking, then why don't you head back to your tent and rest," I snidely retorted, annoyed by the clown's off handed remark, "You should also apologize to Nashi as well."

"Now now, that's quite alright," he frowned, still keeping a calm tone of voice. "She's entitled to her opinions, I wouldn't want to stoke the devil's fires, if I were you."

"I don't need to hear any of your shitty lectures, leprechaun," she snapped, standing up from her chair, "Whatever, have fun sitting on your asses and doing each others' hair and nails, pansies."

With that, the clown stormed out of the cafeteria and proceeded to head back to the tents area. While her sudden outburst was rattling, it didn't seem to compare to what Nashi had said. His words were foreboding and ominous, but I couldn't help but feel dubious about his claims. Call me superstitious, but I didn't want to believe any of this was real, in fact I wanted to put it out of mind the best I could.

"I see you don't believe me, that is fine," Nashi calmly said, having read my thoughts somehow, "It's but a mere vision, it can be altered in time."

"Hmph, that's certainly an odd thing to say so abruptly," Chris looked at the soothsayer, perplexed by his words, "But there is no need to fear, once my injuries heal, I will be able to protect all of us!"

"I sure hope you are right about that…" Nashi softly spoke, heading back to his table.

"Are you sure that's something you can do in your current state?" Daiko, who had been silent this entire time, remarked astutely, "I mean, I doubt anything would happen, but I'd say to keep your nose out of the bear's business for now."

"You sound as if you have an idea of what's going on, Daiko," I inquisitively noted, taking in his rather mellow demeanor, "Is there something you want to say?"

"Not really," he shrugged indifferently, "I'm just saying why place our faith in a blind future that may or may not come true is all. Why should I have to worry about some predetermined fate that could be a lie for all I know?"

Before I could ask what he meant by those words, a loud sound resonated over the carnival intercom system. A ghastly carnival tune began playing as one of the TV's nearby turned on. A clear image of Monojoker was on screen, showing him in his little office, sitting in his red leather chair and sipping on his fruity drink.

 **DING DONG DING DONG**

"Ahem, it is now 8 PM," the crudely designed bear cheerfully announced, "It is now officially nighttime, so drop what your doing and it's off to bed for all of you. I hope you lovely rejects have pleasant dreams tonight, I know I will~ pupupupupupu!"

The TV then turned off automatically, as the eerie music stopped playing and everyone looked at each other with mixed expressions. I turned immediately to my sister, who was anxiously holding her soup spoon, resting it inside the half finished bowl of pumpkin soup, too nervous to finish the rest.

It was then that I noticed the environment around me and saw that the sky grew darker as time went on. The rich orangey pink shades of light had slowly dissipated and dusk inched its way slowly into the light, coloring the sky like a painter with wide brush strokes. The velvet purples and the midnight blues creeped in as the gloomy grey clouds parted ways to expose a bright half moon. They said that time flies when you're having fun, but I didn't think they meant that literally in any sense of the word.

"Well it's been a long day for everyone, we'd best be on our way back to our tents," I stretched out wide, sleepily yawning loudly, "Let's go Cherry, thanks for the meal!"

"R-Right behind you…" she tiredly blinked, rubbing her baggy eyes, "T-Thank you for t-the meal…"

"Good night you two," Shion smiled contently, waving to us, "Sleep well."

"Don't let the bed bugs bite, you two," Asahi playfully commented, winking at us as he waved us goodnight.

We stood up from the table, leaving our dishes behind as the songwriter and tea brewer went to clean it up. I then noticed the soothsayer and defense attorney looking at each other, almost wary of the others' intentions. While they both seemed very calm and rational in their own ways, I couldn't help but feel slightly cautious when in their presence, almost as if something was nagging at me not to trust either of them. I'd probably chalk it up to my usual paranoia, but my gut instincts were telling me something else entirely, almost as if my line of thinking was too naive or too unsuspecting of others, given the situation.

As we walked back to our tents, I kept on looking down at the ground, constantly thinking of all the things that could go wrong at the upcoming party. Call me skeptical, but I had this inkling of suspicion that something bad was going to happen, I don't know what exactly. The thought of us having to kill each other for the bear's sick entertainment, watching our family members get killed like hunted animals in the wild and the overwhelming pressure of being in a hostage situation, it was beyond intense.

"K-Kichi...w-what are you t-thinking right now?" my sister asked, her eyes trembling as she noticed my shaken state, "A-Are you w-worried about t-the party t-too?"

"Huh? Oh k-kind of…" I scratched the back of my head nervously, "I just can't shake this awful feeling…..that something bad is going to happen."

"R-Really? Y-You too…" she trailed off, fiddling with her butterfly hair clip, "I g-guess this what they c-c-call twins intuition…"

"Heh, you actually believe in that nonsense, sis," I chuckled at her, ruffling her hair, "Don't worry about it, I'm just overthinking things as usual."

"I h-hope so t-too…" she smiled warmly, pink blush forming on her face as we arrived at our tent.

We entered inside, hoping to get some rest before noticing something on my bed. It was neatly wrapped present box, with green wrapping paper and white ribbon attached to the top of it. My sister headed over to her side of the tent, and after a few minutes came back with a present wrapped in red wrapping paper and a black ribbon on top of hers.

"Let me open it, Cherry," I warned her, placing both presents on my bed, "Please don't be a bomb…"

I grabbed the fabric scissors from the sewing kit my sister received and cut open the ribbon to both boxes, recoiling back instinctively as the ribbon undid itself. I looked at my sister anxiously, staring at the boxes as I opened up the green one first, closing my eyes as I removed the top of it. To my surprise, it wasn't anything lethal or dangerous, but quite the opposite.

"A-Are these p-pajamas?" Cherry curiously wondered, nervously approaching hers and opening the top of the present, "W-Why do w-we need these?"

Unsure of how to respond, I peered inside the box, taking out the articles of clothing and tossing the box to the side as I unfolded the clothes. It appeared that whoever left this present, most likely Monojoker, gave us sleepwear to wear while at night.

I received a light blue T-shirt with a picture of a some green clovers and red and silver horseshoes dancing around a pot gold in the center of the shirt. I also got a pair of green sleeping shorts with a small black insignia on the bottom hem and a white and red sleeping mask with Monojoker's face etched on the design.

I scoffed at the design, tossing the clothes back on my bed and rested the sleeping mask to the side table next to my bed, annoyed that the bear was mocking us. I then looked over to my sister, who wasn't as perturbed as I was, but more so bewildered if anything.

She got a baggy long sleeved red and black shirt with a picture of a black cat hanging from a tree on the front. Her pajama pants were long and had a faint ombre red and black hue; the red near the top and the black by her ankles with white outlined butterflies embroidered on the fabric. Lastly she received a pair of fuzzy black cat slippers and a sleeping mask that was the same as mine.

"W-What do w-we do with these, K-Kichi?" Cherry wondered, pressing the soft clothes against her body.

"I guess they're meant to be pajamas," I raised an eyebrow, eyeing my shirt and shorts, "Well as much as I have my doubts about this, it beats sleeping in our old smelly clothes, that's for sure."

"I s-suppose...I'm g-going to put mine on…" she hugged her pajamas close to her person, "G-Good night, Kichi…"

"Night Cherry, remember, I'm always closeby," I winked to her, "If you ever have nightmares, feel free to sleep on my bed and I'll sleep on the floor."

"T-Thanks…" she giggled, leaving to her side of the tent as the lights in our tent dimmed.

I groggily disrobed, sloppily leaving my old clothes on the floor and changing into the new clothes presented to us. The clothes smelt lovely, like fresh cut flowers and they felt warm and cozy as if they were pulled out straight from the dryer. The soothing warmth lulled me to sleep as I plopped directly on my bed, closing my eyes instantly as my mind drifted off into dreamland.

I felt comfortable knowing we had some plan of attack for tomorrow. I just couldn't shake the gnawing sensation that something was going to happen, for better or for worse. My body felt heavy like a weight as my consciousness slowly drifted off.

I never want this tranquil feeling to go away…..I needed it….otherwise I might go insane...

* * *

 **A/N** : Hello Hello Hello everyone, welcome back to another monthly update of this long awaited story, did you miss me? I know I know, you're probably wondering. Oh my goodness, he's made another chapter, all in the span of one month! Call the FBI, this is unprecedented and new territory for us!

To answer your questions, yes I am sane, but this time it's an exception to the rule. Since I've been taking ten million years just to get to the meat of this story, I figured why not make the next FTE chapter while I'm at and post it so you guys have something to keep you busy in the meantime. I figured why not get the FTE's out of the way, so I can focus on my other story and get to the motive for that one as well.

I know you've all been anticipating the release of this chapter, I have to, but I'm sorry if it came out so suddenly and all that good jazz. I've been on easter vacation for these past few weeks and I've had too much time on my hands to make this next chapter. I've also been preoccupied with family related outings as well as dealing with my anxiety and depression over this short period. I wanted to destress and vent so I decided to finish this chapter and then get my brain focused on working on my second story's first motive and FTE's for that one as well.

I want to have them both done at the same time, that way I can catch up with my first story and hopefully, I will be able to start that project again sometime soon, when I'm feeling better. I've been putting these chapters off due to mental stress and family related issues, but no longer.

That aside, what did you guys think of this FTE chapter, I know the filler has to come but it will get good I promise. To the creators of Gabriel and Christopher, I hope I did their free time events justice I hope you liked what I did for them. I had a bit of trouble formulating how to finish this chapter, but in the end I was able to manage what I got. If you have any complaints of suggestions, feel free to ask me in the PM's and I will change it ASAP.

Before I go, I would like to once again plug some stories. As of this posting, these stories need OC and I hope that they catch your fancy. Here are all the shameless plugs X3.

 **Danganronpa: Remnants Of My Heart** \- shameless fourth SYOC plug.

 **Danganronpa: The Pitiful Plague Called Ignorance** \- by RioA, she's an amazing writer and I stand by her work.

 **Danganronpa: Final Flight** \- by Shirasaur, they're in the middle of submissions and they're deadline is not yet decided, so be sure to check them out.

 **Desperatio est Colosseum** \- by tobi-is-an-artist-too, they're making a new SYOC and they need some submissions so be sure to send her some good ones.

 **Fogbound Castaways** \- by Sharkeye, as of this posting, her deadline is closing soon, so be sure to send her an OC if you're interested.

Other than that, I have nothing left to report, I hope you all enjoyed this little chapter. I had fun making it, despite how much hell it put me through, but I hope it's alright. As of right now I will postpone making another LR chapter as to focus on SWBC and get started on that story's motive as soon as I can.

The next chapter might be the one where we find our first death OwO, so be sure to keep an eye out on that you all X3.

I hope you all have a wonderful day, night, holiday or whatever it is you're celebrating and happy easter to whom it may concern, I hope you all had a wonderful easter and I wish you all the best in the coming months. The carnival wishes you a despairing happy holidays X3.

Happy reading my fellow readers, authors and otaku alike, I hope you all have a wonderful week, bye bye!


End file.
